Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 16:57:39 -0800 (PST) From: Brent E Whitted <whitted-AT-interchange.ubc.ca> Subject: Bourdieu and the common law Now that my doctoral dissertation is nearly complete, I though I should let the people on this list know what I am up to. Basically, I'm using Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus, and capital to explain the situation of the Inns of Court in the broader field of power of early modern London, and how the literary activity associated with the Inns functions as a product of the interaction between lawyers (law students in particular) and institutions outside the field of juridical production--the court, the city authorites, and the theatres. Here's an abstract (feedback is very welcome): The literary culture of the Inns of Court, 1572 - 1634 This dissertation examines the social politics of literary production at London's Inns of Court from 1572 to 1634. By illustrating the wider applicability of Bourdieu's concepts of cultural production beyond his own French academic context, I locate the Inns as institutions central (rather than peripheral) to the formation of literary culture in early modern London. In his studies of the interconnection between art and the structure of the social relations of its production and reception, Bourdieu has proposed fields of cultural production as social networks of struggle over valued economic, cultural, scientific, or religious resources. As an historically constituted arena of activity with its specific institutions, rules, and interest, the juridical field of early modern London was a competitive market in which the law students struggled for social legitimation through their association with the Inns of Court. The Inns were unchartered law schools in which valuable cultural currency (the common law and its social magic as a power resource) was transmitted to the students who resided there. Concentrating on the four Inns of Court (as the pivotal institutions of the juridical field) and their relationship with the larger political and economic forces of London (the field of power), I examine how the literary art of the Inns' residents relates to their struggle for social legitimation, particularly in their interaction with the City of London and the court. By examining how the structures of these texts reflect the structures of the relationship between the Inns and other centres of urban power, this dissertation reshapes our understanding of the pivotal role(s) played by law students in the development of London's literary culture. Brent Whitted Ph.D. Candidate Department of English University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z1 (604) 224-0455 ********************************************************************** Contributions: bourdieu-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu Commands: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu Requests: bourdieu-approval-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
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