Linked to the research line State, Constitution and Democracy, the Center for Studies in Law and Literature starts from the premise that literature is not an ornament of law, but a source of understanding the experiences of power, justice and exclusion that technical-legal discourse tends to silence. The work is conducted in a permanent seminar format, with guided reading of literary works and texts on legal theory, culminating in original academic production by the members.
The Center's proposal is organized around the three classic strands of the field of Law and Literature. The first, law in literature, investigates the representations of process, law, and justice in literary production, taking fiction as a critical laboratory of institutions. The second, law as literature, examines legal texts—judgments, petitions, opinions, and the Constitution itself—from the perspective of narrative, rhetorical, and hermeneutical categories. The third, the law of literature, discusses the legal regimes that affect literary creation, such as freedom of expression, censorship, and copyright.
This research line, already certified by CNPq (Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development), investigates the formation and crisis of constitutional state institutions, the foundations of democracy, and the mechanisms of power control, with an emphasis on the Brazilian experience. Within the Center, this line of research is developed using literary resources, which offer access to the symbolic, narrative, and affective dimensions of constitutional life.
Research Area : Law and Literature: narrative, interpretation and legal culture (proposed inclusion)
