Literature's Critique, Subversion, and Transformation of Justice

Literature is an institution per se, as is justice, and these two institutions enact each other in complex ways. Justice appears in many forms from divine right and religious ordainment to metaphysical imperative and natural law, to national jurisdiction, social order, human rights, and civil disobedience. What is just and right has varied in time and place, in war and peace. A sense of justice appears inextricable from human concerns of ethics and morals. Literature includes a vast range of writing from holy texts to banned books. Parts of literature, particularly in the past, have laid down the law. In more recent history, literature has gradually assumed radical roles of critique, subversion, and transformation of the existing law and order, in contents, themes, language, and form. Literature’s Critique, Subversion, and Transformation of Justice offers a selection of research that examines how various types of literature and arts give shape and significance to ideas of justice in various fields.

Charles Ivan Armstrong is Professor of British Literature, University of Agder, Norway.

Cassandra Falke is Professor of English Literature and Culture at the University of Tromsø, Norway. Her previous books include Literature by the Working Class: English Autobiography, 1820-1848 (2013) and, as editor, Intersections in Christianity and Critical Theory (2010). She has also published articles about English Romanticism, literary theory, and liberal arts education.

Asbjørn Skarsvåg Grønstad is Professor in the Department of Information Science and Media Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Lene Johannessen is Professor of American Literature in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen, Norway.