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What I did not say
Abstract
What I Did Not Say is a mixed-genre blend of nonfiction (incorporating elements of literary and scholarly essay, literary journalism, memoir, and satire), which focuses on juvenile, family, and criminal law. Through the interdisciplinary lens of these blended genres, I examine systemically-perpetuated injustice via intersections of race and gender (as socially constructed) with law. What I Did Not Say reflects the influence of cultural studies, race and ethnic studies, gender studies, and law and legal studies. The introductory essay grounds the book in feminist theory. Following the introduction, the dissertation's first section, “Attorney at Large,” focuses on the lives I encountered in my professional experience as an attorney but includes some aspects of my individual experience as a single mother raising my own son while practicing juvenile law. The second section, “Anarchy Barbie, The Avenging Angel, and the Sunshine State,” includes aspects of my professional experience but foregrounds my individual experience as a custodial parent in the family law system and child support enforcement bureaucracy. The final section, “Standing While Black: Perceived Performance and the Legal Marrow of Race,” examines racialized criminal prosecutions of a group of African American teens for homicide. This section includes quantitative and qualitative research in examining construction of race through journalistic and legal discourse.
Subject Area
American literature|Rhetoric|Composition|Law|Womens studies|African Americans
Recommended Citation
Gavin, Gaynell Haegele, "What I did not say" (2003). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3092543.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3092543