Counterparts before the Law: Mimicry and Exclusion

Abstract

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines ethology as ‘1. The portrayal of character by mimicry’ and ‘2. The science of ethics’. This essay is concerned to approach that double definition by looking at how we identify characters and their cultures. I am particularly concerned with responses to the law in two contemporaneous texts, ‘Counterparts’ and ‘Ireland at the Bar’. In this chapter I will deal initially with some responses to ‘Counterparts’, then consider its publication and the writing of ‘Ireland at the Bar’. The second half of this chapter presents a reading of ‘Counterparts’ as a working through of the issues of legal (mis)representation that can result in juridical killing.