Abstract
Taking the letter of the law literally would equal the death of our hopeand expectation that law and its practices of justice will createimproved social realities. This insight is, however, seldom formulatedin legal discourse. A more profound analysis shows how ``the literal'',taken as a legal expression, covers the management of law's semanticsrather than delivering the precise description of a state of affairs inlaw. This pertains in particular to the ``well informed citizen'' (A.Schutz). Can legal meanings that should enter and perhaps change thecitizen's life sphere for the better, transcend the boundaries of legaldiscourse by means of appealing to a literal meaning?
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Broekman, J.M. Reiterating the Literal. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 14, 121–128 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011245324679
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011245324679