false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170439736m/54516.jpg 54516 2 <div>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?<br><br>In <i>Troubling Confessions,</i> 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 <i>Miranda</i> 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.<br><br>Mitya in <i>The Brothers Karamazov</i> 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.</div> 1529178 2000 Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature total:4|4:2|3:2| 4 14 11 2 3 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 14:09:25 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 14:10:28 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Dec 14 12:00:59 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 12:01:39 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Wed Oct 21 11:08:56 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 11:08:56 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue May 26 11:15:50 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 11:15:50 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue May 26 09:00:50 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 09:00:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Feb 20 14:07:12 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 14:07:12 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jun 10 01:27:13 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 10 01:27:13 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Feb 19 18:04:05 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 19 18:04:05 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Wed Jan 16 06:09:36 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 16 06:09:48 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Tue Jan 08 16:24:31 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 08 16:24:31 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 14:24:55 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 14:24:55 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=54516