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This book presents an interdisciplinary study of the relation between semiotics, law & art. Focusing on Greimasian semiotics, it examines specific works of art (from Giotto to Banksy) that deal with the theme of justice, promoting a more sensitive and humanized perception of the values that surround law. The book offers readers a comprehensive review of the semiotics of law, critically examining the relation between law & art. It covers a variety of topics, including semiotics, law and art; semiotics, art and experience; and society, law and art, as well as semiotics, law and painting; semiotics, law and architecture; semiotics, law and theatre; semiotics, law and literature; and semiotics, law and culture. In doing so, it uses the semiotics of painting to explain the symbology of justice and its significance in history; the semiotics of architecture to explain the setting of justice; the semiotics of theatre to explain the logic of the legal process; and the semiotics of literature toexplain the narrative logic of legal decisions. Lastly, drawing on the semiotics of culture, it discusses ways of promoting justice, citizenship and human rights. Written from both philosophical and semiotical perspectives, the book enhances the centrality of visual jurisprudence studies to promote a better understanding of the role of law.
List of contents
Introduction.- Part I General Part: Semiotics, Law and Art.- Semiotics, Art and Experience.- Society, Law and Art.- Part II Special Part: Applied Semiotics, Law and Art.- Conclusions.
About the author
Eduardo C.B. Bittar is ¿Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy and General Theory of Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo (Brazil - USP). He was President of the National Association for Human Rights (ANDHEP, 2009-2010). He was 2nd. Vice-President of the Brazilian Association of Philosophy of Law (IVR/Brazil, 2009-2016). He was Visiting Professor at the Università di Bologna (Bologna, Italy, 2017), Visiting Professor at the Université Paris-Nanterre (Paris, France, 2018) and at the Collège de France (Paris, France, 2019). He is a N-2 researcher at CNPq (2017-2020). He is Associate Editor of the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law (IJSL- Springer).
Report
"Bittar s Semiotics, Law & Art stands as a significant contribution to visual jurisprudence, offering rich insights into the symbolic dimensions of law and justice. ... I highly recommend this book to scholars and practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of the interplay between law, culture, and visual representation. By challenging readers to consider these connections, Bittar s work paves the way for a more holistic understanding of justice in the contemporary world. " (Abdullah Tamrin Rettob, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, Vol. 38 (2), 2025)
