A novel approach to the law: The case for an expanded study of Canadian Law and Literature

Canadian literature has told a significantly different story about the law than that which emerged from its American literary counterpart. Legal subject matter was, for the most part, absent in early Canadian literature yet has seen a significant growth in the last couple of decades. Similarly, the study of Law and Literature, a highly popular area of academic inquiry in the United States, has only recently gained significant ground within Canadian law faculties. The reasons for both are multifaceted and reflect distinct social, cultural, and legal pedagogical differences between Canada and the United States. This thesis explores these differences and their inherent potential for future discovery by (1) surveying the larger study of Law and Literature including its historical genesis and major debates; (2) placing the late emergence of a Canadian legal literature and a Canadian Law and Literature scholarly practice in context as well as examining their manifestation in the work of artists and academics alike; and (3) demonstrating a practical application of Law and Literature scholarship by viewing a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal through the critical lens of George Elliott Clarke's novel entitled George and Rue. It is hoped that such preliminary work may support a case for the expanded study of Law and Literature in a Canadian context.