Law and literature as experience

The challenge of empathy in global legal education

Abstract

This article discusses how law and literature can contribute to contemporary debates about exclusion and inequality in global legal education. It proposes that incorporating literature into law school curricula can enhance experiential learning by offering readers second-hand experiences. We discuss some of the debates in the law and literature movement that stress the possibility and importance of fiction’s ability in mobilising affects and emotions that could improve legal analyses. The article thus uses the frameworks of law and literature and experiential learning to read Ceniza en la Boca, a novel written by Brenda Navarro, which tells the story of a young Mexican woman who migrates to Spain. We argue that the novel leads to a nuanced understanding of the role of law and advocacy in the setting of illegal migration.