More Than (Just) Words: Legal and Non-Legal Narratives in the Courtroom and Beyond

This edited collection illuminates the mechanisms involved in courtroom reality construction and the ways in which trial narratives are created and legal facts established. It covers a wide range of jurisdictions and legal procedures spanning five continents. In addition to explaining how courtroom actors utilise words to craft their narratives within institutional constraints, it draws attention to the effect the gestural, visual and material resources have on the discursive shaping of the judicial process. The book highlights the intersection of legal and non-legal perspectives in judicial and related settings: those of judges, prosecutors, attorneys, complainants, lay witnesses, forensic experts, witness intermediaries and jurors. Going beyond (just) words, the volume elucidates the processes of meaning-making and the discourse practices which underlie asymmetrical interaction in judicial settings. Informed by diverse theoretical frameworks, the book will appeal to legal linguists and discourse analysts studying institutional communication, as well as legal practitioners engaged in trial practice.

Magdalena Szczyrbak, Jagiellonian University, Poland & University of Pardubice, Czechia.