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Law Text Culture

Volume 25 (2021) Performing theatrical jurisprudence

A NOTE ON THE 25TH VOLUME

I have been associated with Law Text Culture (LTC), as a member of the editorial board and for a while as Managing Editor, since the first volume appeared under the guidance and inspiration of the late Penny Pether in 1994. Since then LTC has carved out a distinctive place for itself in the Australian academic landscape, and on the global stage. It was second only to the Yale Journal of Law & Humanities to recognize the distinct interests and approach of the field known as law and the humanities. We have pioneered scholarly writing at the intersection of philosophy, theory, history, literature and culture. We have also pioneered the use of creative media such as photography, poetry and comics to address issues of law and justice. The journal has always been committed to the importance of the relationship between form and content; aesthetics, ethics, and politics.

Early on the journal saw a specific place in Australian academic writing about law for a single issue volume focusing on a distinctive theme or trend in contemporary scholarship, and curated, under the leadership of the Managing Editor, by different Guest Editors each time. This has done two important things. First, it has allowed each issue to concentrate on a single theme or approach and helped maintain the journal’s value in promoting and articulating current trends. It has given each issue a distinctive and ongoing place in legal research. The fact that our articles have now been downloaded over 300,000 times speaks to the journal’s important contribution to legal scholarship not just in Australia but around the world.

Second, it has provided individual researchers a rare opportunity to develop and consolidate their own areas of research specialization while communicating to a broader public in the field. The trust we have placed, particularly in younger scholars working on the cutting edge of the discipline, is unique. Again, the value of this approach speaks for itself. Australian research and teaching leads the world in the field of law and the humanities—a level of global influence unparalleled in other aspects of legal scholarship—and we believe that Law Text Culture’s role in advancing and supporting this scholarship has played a crucial role.

The current volume continues this remarkable tradition. You will find within these pages a collection of new scholarship from around the world that introduces and develops the innovative interdisciplinary study of theatrical jurisprudence. It is edited by two global pioneers in the field and brings together both early career and well-established scholars—from all over Australia but also from the UK, Finland, the Czech Republic, and Canada, and drawing on an exceptional wide range of disciplines in law, the humanities, and the arts. Nothing could better reflect the values and approach of Law Text Culture. I congratulate the editors and the contributors and – as I always do – I look forward with relish to being challenged, provoked, inspired, and surprised by volume 25.

Professor Desmond Manderson FRSC FAAL FASSA

Director, Centre for Law Arts & Humanities

ANU College of Law

Australian National University