ABSTRACT
Literature and works of art have the ability to challenge and potentially reconceptualise and transform social, legal and political imaginaries. By exploring an actual or hypothetical scenario in unexpected ways, aesthetic forms are able to provide alternative perspectives and represent that which can only be accessed abstractly. Because unlike law, literary forms appeal to both the intellect and emotions, artfully presented rhetorical configurations not only arouse the senses and stimulate the emotions; they also augment the application of judicial reasoning and enlarge the capacity for realising justice. Using analyses of the causal link between law and the literary and creative arts – particularly as the legal culture is itself both a co-producer and a by-product of such forms – this chapter elucidates the enduring influence of literature, poetry and popular culture on nurturing the empathic judicial imagination.
