Show Trials: The Aesthetics of Law in Literature and Film

J’accuse! Zola’s public denunciation of the French President, accusing him of anti-Semitism and unlawful imprisonment, has become emblematic for theatrical politics and dramatized trials. Even though their outcomes were decided in advance, the performance of show trials – from the Dreyfus affair to the Auschwitz trials and the prosecution of Saddam Hussein – have been indispensable for the political formation of society. In this course, we will analyze the literary, cinematic, and philosophical reception of such performative trials, ranging from Kafka’s Trial and Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem to Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc and Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg.