Troubling Confessions

Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature

By: Peter Brooks

Write A Review

Paperback | 1 October 2001 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
224 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.68 x 16.13 x 1.38

Paperback

$83.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $20.94 with

Ships in 15 to 25 business days

The constant call to admit guilt amounts almost to a tyranny of confession today. We demand tell-all tales in the public dramas of the courtroom, the talk shows, and in print, as well as in the more private spaces of the confessional and the psychoanalyst's office. Yet we are also deeply uneasy with the concept: how can we tell whether a confession is true? What if it has been coerced?

In Troubling Confessions, Peter Brooks juxtaposes cases from law and literature to explore the kinds of truth we associate with confessions, and why we both rely on them and regard them with suspicion. For centuries the law has considered confession to be "the queen of proofs," yet it has also seen a need to regulate confessions and the circumstances under which they are made, as evidenced in the continuing debate over the Miranda decision. Western culture has made confessional speech a prime measure of authenticity, seeing it as an expression of selfhood that bears witness to personal truth. Yet the urge to confess may be motivated by inextricable layers of shame, guilt, self-loathing, the desire to propitiate figures of authority. Literature has often understood the problematic nature of confession better than the law, as Brooks demonstrates in perceptive readings of legal cases set against works by Rousseau, Dostoevsky, Joyce, and Camus, among others.

Mitya in The Brothers Karamazov captures the trouble with confessional speech eloquently when he offers his confession with the anguished plea: this is a confession; handle with care. By questioning the truths of confession, Peter Brooks challenges us to reconsider how we demand confessions and what we do with them.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Storytelling without Fear? The Confession Problem	p. 8
Confessor and Confessant	p. 35
The Overborne Will--A Case Study	p. 65
Confession, Selfhood, and the Religious Tradition	p. 88
The Culture of Confession, Therapy, and the Law	p. 113
The Confessional Imagination	p. 144
Notes	p. 173
Index	p. 195
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Troubling Confessions

Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Education

The 12 Week Year

Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months

Noni the Pony

Noni the Pony

All About Starting School

All About

Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI)

The Power of the Well-Crafted, Well-Taught Lesson

Young Dark Emu

Winner of the 2020 CBCA Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

Soon - Winner of the 2016 Younger Readers CBCA

The Felix Series : Book 5

The Bad Guys: Episode 1

Episode 1

Excel SmartStudy Science Year 9

Get the Results You Want!

Primary and Middle Years Mathematics

2nd Edition

Powers of Curriculum

2nd Edition - Sociological Perspectives on Education

Excel Essential Skills: Problem Solving Workbook - Year 7

Excel Essential Skills

Excel Essential Skills: Advanced Mathematics Revision & Exam Workbook - Year 10

Excel Essential Skills (Maths)

Teach Like a Champion 3.0

63 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College

The Educator's Experience of Pathological Demand Avoidance

An Illustrated Guide to Pathological Demand Avoidance and Learning

The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading

Translating Research to Reignite Joy and Meaning in the Classroom

Romeo and Juliet Cambridge School Shakespeare

Cambridge School Shakespeare

Macbeth Cambridge School Shakespeare

Cambridge School Shakespeare

When the Adults Change, Everything Changes

Seismic shifts in school behaviour

Explicit Instruction

Effective and Efficient Teaching

Excel NAPLAN-style Tests

Year 2

Why Don't Students Like School?

A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, 2nd Edition

Mary Sheridan's From Birth to Five Years

5th Edition - Children's Developmental Progress

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy

11th Edition

Supporting Education

4th Edition

This product is categorised by