Here at the faculty lounge we're putting together a blog symposium on
Go Set a Watchman. Faculty lounge blogger Steve Lubet's essay, "Reconstructing Atticus Finch," in the
Michigan Law Review back in 1999 was part of the movement to question Atticus' ideas when he was seen as a heroic figure by so many. Now that
Watchman has moved the story forward two decades to the post-
Brown v. Board of Education struggle over civil rights, we see Atticus in a very different light -- as a supporter of the White Citizens Council and as a critic of the NAACP and the Supreme Court. And we also see Scout (now known as Jean Louise) in a new light, too -- as someone at odds with her father and his world.
They had a clash of visions of constitutional law; Jean Louise had a theory appropriate for the Atomic Age (what a quaint throw-back to 1950s, dialog, isn't it?).
We want to post some of our readers' thoughts on this and are casting the net broadly for takes on Watchman, as well as reassessments of Mockingbird. Given that our focus here in the faculty lounge is on law, we're particularly interested in assessment of the legal ideas on display in Harper Lee's work, but we welcome assessments from others vantages, such as literature, history, and race.
Steven Lubet, as our resident expert on Harper Lee, will be providing commentary at the conclusion of the symposium.
If you're interested in participating, please send a brief proposal to Al Brophy,
abrophy@email.unc.edu. In keeping with the faculty lounge's blog format, there will be no footnotes, but hyperlinks are welcome. Posts should be in the range of 500-1500 words and we're hoping to have the symposium run July 27 to August 1.
Thanks for the link to Steve's essay on Atticus Finch. Steve's essay has left me stunned and speechless ... it left me with so much to think about, starting with the possibility that trials are less about searching for truth than they are about winning at all costs
Posted by: Enrique Guerra-Pujol | July 19, 2015 at 11:51 AM