Nomos and Narrative

Abstract

The seminal article by Robert Cover, Nomos and Narrative, has been the inspiration for several generations of American jurists. Cover writes about the implications between normativity and narrative, trying to explain the role of violence practiced by judges in the performance of their duties. Through biblical sources and the social and legal history of Judaism, court acts are analyzed as what Cover calls “normative universes”, different from those decisions by official institutions. All this intertwined theoretical construction is due to study thoroughly what the author deemed to be the most important decision of the 1982 Supreme Court, the Bob Jones University case, which dealt with the state dismantling of racial segregation in schools and universities, in a context of strong religious resistance by certain communities. (Abstract by translator)

Keywords

• nomos
• narração
• Robert Cover
• violência, lei