Michael Kohlhaas or the Germans and Their Law
Keywords:
Proportionality, to be in the right, rigour, Rechtsstaat, autonomy of the reader, modernity of the Kohlhaas theme, Proporcionalidad, tener la razón, rigor, estado de derecho, autonomía del lector, modernidad del tema de KohlhaasAbstract
Asked to pick a single representative ‘German’ piece for a discourse on ‘Law and Literature’ one almost inevitably ends up with Kleist’s tale Michael Kohlhaas. It seems to be the literary incarnation of the German stance vis-à-vis the law. It is all about horses; it could just as well be about dogs. Kohlhaas fights a devastating battle, using legal means and outright violence, even warfare, for their recovery in good shape. Victorious eventually with his legal actions, he is happy to trade in his own life for this victory, thus giving an extreme example for the nice line between being in the right and pursuing this position with disproportionate rigour.
Of course, the interpretations of Michael Kohlhaas (which, in its complete version, dates of 1810) have varied from epoch to epoch as well as from reader to reader. It is not possible to rehearse the bulk of ‘Kohlhaas literature’. In comparing legal cultures, it might be of interest to look into the question why such a somber story on the law forms part and will continue to form part of the German cultural heritage.
Si se tiene que elegir un único representante “alemán” para una ponencia sobre “derecho y literatura”, es inevitable optar por la obra de Kleist, Michael Kohlhaas. Parece la encarnación literaria de la posición alemana hacia el derecho. El libro trata de caballos; también podría tratar sobre perros. Kohlhaas libra una batalla devastadora usando medios legales y la violencia pura y dura, incluso la guerra, para que se recuperen en buena forma. Finalmente resulta ganador mediante acciones legales, está contento de dedicar su propia vida para conseguir esta victoria, dando así un ejemplo extremo de la línea que existe entre tener la razón y seguir esta posición con un rigor desproporcionado.
Por supuesto, las interpretaciones de Michael Kohlhaas (publicado en 1810) han variado de una época a otra, y de un lector a otro. No es posible revisar el grueso de la “literatura sobre Kohlhaas”. Al comparar las culturas legales, podría ser interesante estudiar la razón por la que una historia tan sombría sobre el derecho forma parte y va a continuar formando parte del patrimonio cultural alemán.
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