The book argues that it is the archaic scapegoat mechanism – the reconciliation of the community through the direction of unified violence against a single victim – that actually works best in explaining all of the outstanding issues of Law and Literature in both of its sub-forms: (the analysis of legal language and practice exemplified by literacy texts) and (the exploration of issues in legaltheory through the fictitious form of the novel). The book will provide readers with: (i) a useful introduction to the most important elements of the work of René Girard; (ii) a greater awareness of the ‘hidden’ nature of legal culture and reasoning within a post-secular age; and (iii) a new understanding of the ‘subversive’ (or ‘enlightening‘) nature of some of the most iconic works on Law in both Literature and Cinema, media which by their nature allow for the expression of truths repressed by formal legal discourse.