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Courtroom dialogues and feminist legal theory in Irish literature

Costello, Róisín Áine orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-8008-1191 (2020) Courtroom dialogues and feminist legal theory in Irish literature. Irish Studies Review, 28 (3). pp. 370-392. ISSN 0967-0882

Abstract
This article examines the use of courtroom dialogues in two of the leading works of Irish language literature, and how they acted, at the time of their writing, as a mechanism which permitted both author and audience to question societal attitudes to female agency and sexuality – and how they continue to facilitate such critical reflection contemporaneously. Specifically, the piece examines the use of courtroom dialogues in Cúirt an Mheán Oíche by Brian Merriman (CMO) written around 1780 and in An Triail by Máiréad Ní Ghráda (AT) originally performed in 1965 and published in 1978. Both pieces, written nearly two centuries apart, use courtroom dialogues, and the formal mechanisms of testimony and cross-examination to articulate and critique the social subordination of women portrayed in the texts, and to question the restraints on female agency and sexuality imposed by the societies in which their characters exist. Through the works’ use of judicial settings and dialogues, both texts articulate a feminist theory of law that aligns with Catherine McKinnon’s dominance theory.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:feminist legal theory; gender; cross-examination; testimony, dominance
Subjects:Humanities > Irish language
Humanities > Literature
Social Sciences > Law
Social Sciences > Gender
Social Sciences > Identity
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Law and Government
Publisher:Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2020.1794316
Copyright Information:© 2020 Taylor & Francis
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:25485
Deposited On:24 Feb 2021 15:02 by Róisín Ã�ine Costello . Last Modified 24 Feb 2021 15:02
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