Law & Literature, Arizona State University (O'Connor)

This seminar will involve discussing three works of literature that deal with crime, punishment, and (perhaps) redemption, works separated by approximately 2000 years. We will first discuss two plays by Sophocles: OEDIPUS THE KING and OEDIPUS AT COLONUS. After spending two sessions of the 13 discussing these, we will spend the remainder of the semester discussing Dostoevsky's novel CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. It is vital that the student use only the Everyman's Library translation of this novel (ordered for this course) by Pevear and Volokhonsky since many other translations are terrible and even the OK ones will have different pagination from the Everyman edition, something that will make references made in class hard to find and discuss. There are some other editions (one from Vintage) that use the P and V translation with the same pagination, so one of those will also be OK. NOTE WELL: (1)The Instructor does not allow laptop computers or other electronic devices to be used or even opened in class since they inhibit discussion and turn students into stenographers. (2) Prior to reading the assigned books you should not read any preliminary material (including prefaces to the books assigned). You should "wait on the story" and form your own view about its meaning before being influenced by the view of some critic. This information has been collected for the Post-Discipline Online Syllabus Database. The database explores the use of literature by schools of professional education in North America. It forms part of a larger project titled Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, led by Dr Merve Emre with the assistance of Dr Hayley G. Toth. You can find more information about the project at https://postdiscipline.english.ox.ac.uk/. Data was collected and accurate in 2021/22.