ICYMI: Husa on Exploring Imaginative Legal History: The Legalism of the House Stark in the Game of Thrones @HusaJaakko

ICYMI: Jaakko Husa, University of Helsinki Faculty of Law, has published Exploring Imaginative Legal History: The Legalism of the House Stark in the Game of Thrones at 20 Media & Arts Law Review 181 (2015). Here is the abstract.

This article examines George R R Martin’s imaginative historical narrative in his book series A Song of Ice and Fire. The first book of the series (A Game of Thrones) is highlighted and discussed from the points of view of legal history and applied legal theory. The article concentrates on the legal mentality of one of the noble Houses in A Game of Thrones and discusses Martin’s rich narrative in its relation to the real feudal legal history and jurisprudential frameworks it displays. Analysis focuses on the rules of succession. It will be argued that even though the House Stark’s attitude and mentality can be labelled as legalistic and surprisingly modern it can be seen as a natural part of the imaginative feudal world of A Game of Thrones. The article concludes that, by studying the legalistic attitude and mentality of the House Stark, we can also learn about the legal theoretical nature of modern legalism. Paradoxically, it is also suggested that the study of imaginative legal history deepens our understanding of ‘real’ legal history. Moreover, the author argues that analysis of imaginative legal history expands our legal mind and immerses us in alternative horizons of law.

Downoad the article from SSRN at the link.

Kortvelyesi on Game of Norms: Law, Interpretation, and the Realms in Game of Thrones

Zsolt Kortvelyesi, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, Centre for Social Sciences, has published Game of Norms: Law, Interpretation, and the Realms in Game of Thrones as MTA Law Working Paper No. 2019/3. Here is the abstract.

In this paper I will use Game of Thrones (the TV series) and its oath of the Night’s Watch to discuss some basic questions related to the nature and functioning of law. This will serve a dual goal: assessing the concept of law used in the series (making the paper part of a long-thriving academic field, law and literature, or law and film), but, more importantly, also to present theoretical questions in a friendly way – something I also tested in introduction to law classes. It is not easy to draw students into discussing questions of the right interpretation or functionalist understandings, but by driving them to a friendly (if deadly) territory, one can engage with them and show how the discussion is intimately related to fundamental dilemmas of legal theory.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Call For Papers: Law, Power, and Justice in Game of Thrones

Via @ThomGiddens: CfP: Law, Power, and Justice in Game of Thrones: 

HBO’s award-winning adaptation of George Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels has become one of the most watched televisions shows and elevated the cult fantasy novels to social phenomenon.
Academic attention has focussed on its rich themes and deconstruction of medieval society as a font for exploring contemporary issues relating to power, gender, war, capitalism, torture and language.

Law and Global Justice at Durham and Abertay University are pleased to announce a one-day conference to explore themes of law, power and justice in Game of Thrones in the 11thJune 2019, in the Senate Suite, Durham Castle 

We welcome papers considering law, power and justice (broadly constructed) as well as related themes found within Game of Thrones or the A Song of Ice and Fire novels. We welcome reflections including, but not limited to:

Power, corruption, and rule of law in Game of Thrones, Justice and retribution in Game of Thrones, 

The role of war, war crimes, and weapons of mass destruction in Game of Thrones, 

The limited agency of women in patriarchal and feudal systems Game of Thrones, 

The regulation of dragons, monsters, and other-worldly creatures in Game of Thrones, 

The symbolism and use of magic, religion, and authority in Game of Thrones, 

Reflections on archetypes and tropes in law and in Game of Thrones. 

Papers, presentations, or outlines of proposed research from established academics and postgraduate students are welcome. 

A small number of travel bursaries of £50 per person are available to support participation. These will be allocated on the basis of need but priority will be given to PhD students. 

If you wish to be considered for a travel bursary please indicate this at the time of application and include a brief paragraph (max 250 words) about why you need the bursary. 

Please send abstracts (max 350 words) to l.mitchell@abertay.ac.uk and Catherine.turner@durham.ac.uk by 3rd May 2019.

For Those Interested in Law and Game of Thrones: A Blog For You! @ShannonKilpatri @WesterosLaw

Via Shannon Kilpatrick: news of a blog devoted to law and Game of Thrones:  Laws of Fire and Ice. The author is attorney Clint Woods.  And there's a Twitter Feed!

A New Book On Law in Games of Thrones @Mare_et_Martin

New from Mare & Martin:

Du droit dans Game of Thrones (Quentin Le Pluard and Péran Plouhinec, eds., 2019). Here is the description of the book's contents from the publisher's website.

La série Game of Thrones et la saga littéraire du Trône de Fer dont elle est tirée connaissent un retentissement mondial. Au sein de cet univers de fiction dépeignant une société médiévale brutale, cruelle, intégrant quelques éléments fantastiques tels les dragons, on ne compte plus les meurtres, viols, incestes, tortures et autres actions blâmables, à tel point que le droit et la justice ysemblent absents. C’est pourtant tout l’inverse. Il existe un droit propre au monde de Game of Thrones. Un individu ressuscité par magie, par exemple, demeure-t-il une personne au regard du droit et conserve-t-il les liens juridiques qu’il avait pu nouer avant sa mort ? Un mur de glace de plusieurs dizaines de mètres de haut constituet-il une frontière au sens juridique du terme ? De même, de quel droit est-il question à l’égard des personnages féminins présentés dans la série ? C’est à toutes ces interrogations, et à bien d’autres mêlant toutes les disciplines juridiques, que les auteurs apportent des réponses en convoquant leur connaissance de la fiction et du droit. Cet ouvrage entend démontrer que l’étude de l’un peut s’enrichir des apports de l’autre. Se voulant accessible à tous – néophytes du droit comme de Game of Thrones, ou naturellement juristes confirmés comme fans inconditionnels de la saga –, il s’agit là d’une autre preuve que, comme le veut l’adage, le droit est véritablement partout. Il l’est donc aussi dans Game of Thrones.

Mitchell on Re-affirming and Rejecting the Rescue Narrative as an Impetus For War @DrLynseyMitchel

Lynsey Mitchell, Leeds Law School, has published Re-affirming and rejecting the rescue narrative as an impetus for war: to war for a woman in A Song of Ice and Fire, 12 Law and Humanities 229 (2018).  Here is the abstract.

From Paris’ capture of Helen in Homer’s Iliad, and the resulting 10-year war in retaliation, Western literature has a long tradition of narrativising the turn to war as a dispute in service of a woman. Yet in contemporary Western legal accounts it is assumed that legal arch-positivism now governs the decision to go to war, and so any such action can be considered rational and just. However, contemporary turns to war are increasingly invoking just war theory that is wrapped in a similar patriarchal gender narrative. George RR Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ evokes the European tradition of war in the middle ages, but also explores modern aspects of liberalism, statehood, and international relations. This paper explores how the turn to war is narrativised and understood by various characters in the novels. It does so in order to demonstrate how calls to war rooted in chivalry and protectionism can gain more currency than those rooted in legalist language, but outlines how this then perpetuates and cements a regressive view of women as passive and helpless. This article ultimately calls for an alternative account of law’s understanding of war which does not invoke the rescuer paradigm, and so offers potential reimagining of contemporary justifications for war.

A Series on Law and the Arts at the University of Malaga Faculty of Law @jcalvo11

Beginning March 9, the University of Malaga School of Law is hosting a series of seminars on Art and Law. The March 9th lecture features Professors Jose Calvo Gonzalez and Maria Pina Fersini discussing law and architecture. On April 12, Professor Felipe Navarro Martinez will discuss law and literature, Professor Jose Manuel Cabra Apalategui will discuss law and music, and Professor Cristina Monereo Atienza will discuss law and photography. On May 3, Professor Jose Francisco Alenza Garcia will discuss law in Game of Thrones.

More here.

Husa on Exploring Imaginative Legal History: The Legalism of the House Stark in Game of Thrones @HusaJaakko

ICYMI: Via @DroitetFiction:

Jaakko Husa, University of Lapland Faculty of Law, has published Exploring Imaginative Legal History: The Legalism of the House Stark in the Game of Thrones at 20 Media & Arts Law Review 181 (2015). Here is the abstract.

This article examines George R R Martin’s imaginative historical narrative in his book series A Song of Ice and Fire. The first book of the series (A Game of Thrones) is highlighted and discussed from the points of view of legal history and applied legal theory. The article concentrates on the legal mentality of one of the noble Houses in A Game of Thrones and discusses Martin’s rich narrative in its relation to the real feudal legal history and jurisprudential frameworks it displays. Analysis focuses on the rules of succession. It will be argued that even though the House Stark’s attitude and mentality can be labelled as legalistic and surprisingly modern it can be seen as a natural part of the imaginative feudal world of A Game of Thrones. The article concludes that, by studying the legalistic attitude and mentality of the House Stark, we can also learn about the legal theoretical nature of modern legalism. Paradoxically, it is also suggested that the study of imaginative legal history deepens our understanding of ‘real’ legal history. Moreover, the author argues that analysis of imaginative legal history expands our legal mind and immerses us in alternative horizons of law.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Legal History and Rules of Succession In "Game of Thrones"

Jaakko Husa, University of Lapland Faculty of Law, has published Exploring Imaginative Legal History: The Legalism of the House Stark in the Game of Thrones at 20 Media & Arts Law Review 181 (2015). Here is the abstract.

This article examines George R R Martin’s imaginative historical narrative in his book series A Song of Ice and Fire. The first book of the series (A Game of Thrones) is highlighted and discussed from the points of view of legal history and applied legal theory. The article concentrates on the legal mentality of one of the noble Houses in A Game of Thrones and discusses Martin’s rich narrative in its relation to the real feudal legal history and jurisprudential frameworks it displays. Analysis focuses on the rules of succession. It will be argued that even though the House Stark’s attitude and mentality can be labelled as legalistic and surprisingly modern it can be seen as a natural part of the imaginative feudal world of A Game of Thrones. The article concludes that, by studying the legalistic attitude and mentality of the House Stark, we can also learn about the legal theoretical nature of modern legalism. Paradoxically, it is also suggested that the study of imaginative legal history deepens our understanding of ‘real’ legal history. Moreover, the author argues that analysis of imaginative legal history expands our legal mind and immerses us in alternative horizons of law.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Lannisters, Starks, and Fantasy Football

Joe Berkowitz of Fast Company highlights this meshing of the worlds of Game of Thrones and the NFL. Examine Dave Rappaccio's Westeros Fantasy Football League more closely here at Kissing Suzy Kolber. More GoT fun here from FC writer Dan Solomon, who discusses how Tim Proby gave all 32 of the NFL teams Westeros themes.

If you need even for your Game of Thrones fix, check out how the Getty is linking the show with medieval art here, (no football, though).

And We Thought Game of Thrones Was Just the Wars of the Roses

Reading (or re-reading) Game of Thrones with a Marxist gloss, here  (in the Guardian) and yes, well, perhaps not, here (in Jacobin Magazine).

Law, Political Economy, and "Game of Thrones"

Matthew McCaffrey, University of Manchester, Manchester Business School, and Carmen Elena Dorobăt are publishing 'We Do Not Sow': The Economics and Politics of A Song of Ice and Fire in Capitalism and Commerce in Imaginative Literature (Ed Younkins, ed., Lexington Books, 2015).
Here is the abstract.

George R.R. Martin's fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire brilliantly illustrates a number of basic principles of political economy. In particular, the richness of his world allows for a detailed account of economic and political relations in human society, and the saga uses its fantasy setting to dramatize and explore important questions about power, conflict, and the state. This essay discusses three economic themes in A Song of Ice and Fire. First, Martin's novels illustrate some fundamental ideas about political institutions, showing that organized economic exploitation is the foundation of the state. Second, they dramatize the relationship between war-making and public finance, describing the immense (networks of) political power created through control of the treasury, as well as the political logic that drives Lord Baelish and the Lannisters from taxation to borrowing to inflation in order to sustain and conceal the crown's war debt. Third, we examine how the rhetoric of Westeros's ruling class prevents the emergence of institutions friendly to peace and social cooperation, especially in the form of market exchange.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.

Lawyers and Game of Thrones

Over at Concurring Opinions, Dave Hoffman is posting the transcripts of some very interesting interviews he has conducted with Game of Thrones author G. R. R. Martin. Game of Thrones is now a huge hit on HBO.  See here, here, and here. In the second interview, Mr. Martin discusses the role of lawyers Game of Thrones, which takes the York/Lancaster Wars of the Roses for some of its inspiration. On the Game of Thrones series, see:

Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper Than Swords (Henry Jacoby, ed., Wiley, 2012) (Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series). Available in print and ebook formats. 

Drink Up! Oh, and Live Long and Prosper!

Ah, the uses of trademark law! Check out Vulcan Ale, now for sale in Vulcan, Alberta, in honor of the town's centennial. If you'd rather have Romulan Ale, or a Star Wars, Monty Python, or Game of Thrones brew, check out the possibilities here.

TV For the CEO

Bloomberg Businessweek offers up this view of the popular series "Game of Thrones." Yes, it's relevant for the boardroom, according to Logan Hill. But doesn't that suck all the fun right out of it?