The text of muteness in personal injury litigation

Abstract

This paper identifies a characteristic of the genre of melodrama that is found in personal injury litigation: the text of muteness. The paper explores the manifestation of the text of muteness in three different aspects of the narrative: mute gesture, the mute role, and the relationship between muteness and suffering. It does not suggest that there is a causal relationship between melodrama and litigation, but rather argues that there are striking similarities in the narratives, and that examining the text of muteness in personal injury litigation draws attention to a number of characteristics of the process that are often overlooked. In particular, the importance of gesture, both before and during the trial, and the particular tensions faced by a personal injury litigant in relation to verbalising their claim and their suffering. Considering the role of the plaintiff as analogous to the mute role in melodrama also focuses attention on a number of power structures often ignored in examinations of personal injury litigation. In particular, it reveals the way in which the narrative effectively renders the plaintiff mute, thus restricting the plaintiff's ability to introduce complicating factors which have the potential to undermine the legitimacy of the legal narrative. The plaintiff's muteness also reinforces the control of other characters in the legal narrative who are empowered to speak authoritatively.