Table of Contents

Editors' Introduction Janny H. C. Leung and Alan Durant; Part I. Sui generis or Socially Problematic: The Character of Legal Language: 1. The unspoken language of the law Laura Nader; 2. Seeing sense: the complexity of key words that tell us what law is Alan Durant; 3. Hiding in plain sight: the category of ordinary language and the case law domain of transgender marriage Christopher Hutton; Part II. Imperfect Fit between Legal Categories and Social Discourse: 4. Effects of translation on the invisible power wielded by language in the legal sphere: the case of Nepal Katsuo Nawa; 5. The language of film and the representation of legal subjectivity in Juno Mak's Rigor Mortis Marco Wan; Part III. Written in Silence: Hidden Social Meanings in Legal Discourse: 6. Let the fingers do the talking: language, gesture and power in closing argument Greg Matoesian and Kristin Enola Gilbert; 7. Questions about questioning: courtroom practice in China and the USA Meizhen Liao; 8. Law, language and community sentiment: behind hate speech doctrine in India Siddharth Narrain; Part IV. Conflict between Linguistic and Legal ideologies: 9. When voices fail to carry: voice projection and the case of the 'dumb' jury Chris Heffer; 10. Ideology and political meaning in legal translation Janny H. C. Leung; Part V. Demands of Law and Limits of Language: 11. Law and the grammar of judgment Janet Ainsworth; 12. Legal indeterminacy in the spoken word Lawrence M. Solan and Silvia Dahmen; Afterword: 13. The said of the unsaid Peter Goodrich.

Promotional Information

A new perspective on how far law's power derives from socially situated communication rather than from abstract rules.

About the Author

Janny H. C. Leung is Associate Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong. Her main research interest lies in interdisciplinary work between language and law, with a particular focus on bilingual and multilingual jurisdictions. Her recent books include Language and Law: A Resource Book for Students (2016), co-authored with Alan Durant, and a forthcoming monograph on multilingual jurisdictions. Alan Durant is Professor of Communication in the School of Law at Middlesex University, London. His recent books include Language and Law: A Resource Book for Students (2016), co-authored with Janny H. C. Leung, Language and Media: A Resource Book for Students (2009), co-authored with Marina Lambrou, and Meaning in the Media: Discourse, Controversy and Debate (Cambridge, 2010).

Reviews

'The editors of this book have put together a collection of articles discussing the unsaid in law, which is broad in scope and wide-ranging in theoretical backgrounds, making it a must for all those interested in the language of the law, and its implications.' Dennis Kurzon, University of Haifa, Israel

'… a worthwhile book. Several chapters deploy linguistics to shed light on legal problems in a way that could potentially be of real benefit to the law.' Geoffrey Sampson, LINGUIST List

'… I see this as a worthwhile book. Several chapters deploy linguistics to shed light on legal problems in a way that could potentially be of real benefit to the law …' Geoffrey Sampson, The LINGUIST List