Law and Literature in Africa-Cultural Event

I found the lecture by Peter Leman to be very interesting and quite informative. He started talking about law and literature in and of itself, without context to Africa. He stated that law and literature is an interdisciplinary field which describes how the law can interact with literature. Benjamin Cardoso wrote about this, but it began in the 1970’s when “The Legal Imagination” by James Boyd White was written. White’s work was followed by others in the 80’s and 90’s. Literary scholars found through his and other works that you can tell stories about literature and culture through these intersections. An important question posed by Leman is “Can cultural forms, such as literature, lay down the law?” This is an intriguing question, but literature doesn’t typically lay down the law, he said, although in some cases it can. The law of literature in Africa is important because of this phenomenon.

Before diving into law and literature in Africa, Leman spoke of Africa’s oral traditions. He stated that many African societies have very rich oral traditions, and therefore the law has typically been oral. It also means that legal concepts are described in oral traditions, providing a body of legal wisdom. For example, if a dispute comes up, a council of elders would mediate the discussion, and draw on stories, myths and proverbs to make a decision. Okat p’ Bitek said “The African artist proclaims the laws but expresses them in the most indirect language: through metaphor and symbol, in image and fable. He sings and dances his laws”. (Artist, the Ruler)

Literature and fiction take on significant legal status at times, he stated. Law in African literature can be seen in specifically in Somalia. There is much more to Somalia than the details emphasized in the media, it was once known popularly as a nation of poets. A Somalian elder stated: “Poetry is the central integrating principle without which harmonious relationships in society would be unthinkable.” It has been said that the best lawyer you could have in Somalia would be a poet. There are typically orator/ poet teams on each side that will argue for both sides in arguments. Knowledge of history as well as the ability to fancily articulate are both important in traditional legal procedures. Due to this fact, there are poems and proverbs that deal directly with legal themes. It was and is often times difficult to distinguish between what was law and literature because they overlapped so much. 

Another interesting point that Leman made was that just because literature is law, doesn’t necessarily relate it to justice. Literature and poetry can be used for both just and unjust purposes. Orators use their skills both for the good and for the bad. There is a hierarchy of Somali poets, some who are good at what they do in law and literature and others “who cannot defend (their) camel”. 

I found it very interesting to learn how law and literature can be related. I will try to look for ways that law was embedded into the poems and novels that we will continue to read throughout this semester.