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  • © 2011

Semiotics of International Law

Trade and Translation

  • A unique semiotic approach.
  • Underscores how our multicultural and multilingual world challenges all practitioners of international law.
  • New perspectives on the role of the juridical-diplomatic discourse in constructing an international order.
  • Clearly shows shows how the dispute for meaning in a legal context represents not only a semantic problem, but a subtle dispute of world visions.

Part of the book series: Law and Philosophy Library (LAPS, volume 91)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxxi
  2. International Legal Discourse: Legal Culture Building Legal Discourse

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
  3. International Legal Discourse: Legal Culture Building Legal Discourse

    1. Culture and Legal Culture: A Semiotic Approach

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 3-12
    2. Legal Culture as a System of Signification

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 13-22
    3. Legal Culture as Communication

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 23-33
  4. International Legal Discourse: On Diplomatic Discourse and the Legal-Diplomatic Discourse

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 35-35
  5. International Legal Discourse: On Diplomatic Discourse And The Legal Diplomatic Discourse

    1. Diplomatic Discourse

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 37-56
    2. Legal-Diplomatic Discourse

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 57-82
    3. The Power of Legal-Diplomatic Discourse

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 83-102
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 103-103
  7. The WTO Decision-Making Discourse: the Circumstances of Decision-Making Discourse

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 105-106
  8. THE WTO DECISION-MAKING DISCOURSE: The Circumstances Of Decision-Making Discourse

    1. From GATT to the WTO: Regulating International Trade

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 107-116
  9. The WTO Decision-Making Discourse: the Linguistic Context in the Decision-Making Discourse of the Appellate Body

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 127-128
  10. THE WTO DECISION-MAKING DISCOURSE: the linguistic context in the decision-making discourse of the appellate body

    1. The Choice of Meaning in Discourse

      • Evandro Menezes de Carvalho
      Pages 129-144
  11. Back Matter

    Pages 197-218

About this book

Language carries more than meanings; language conveys a means of conceiving the world. In this sense, national legal systems expressed through national languages organize the Law based on their own understanding of reality. International Law becomes, in this context, the meeting point where different legal cultures and different views of world intersect.

The diversity of languages and legal systems can enrich the possibilities of understanding and developing international law, but it can also represent an instability and unsafety factor to the international scenario. This multilegal-system and multilingual scenario adds to the complexity of international law and poses new challenges. One of them is legal translation, which is a field of knowledge and professional skill that has not been the subject of theoretical thinking on the part of legal scholars. How to negotiate, draft or interpret an international treaty that mirrors what the parties, – who belong to different legal cultures and who, on many occasions, speak different mother tongues – ,want or wanted to say?

By analyzing the decision-making process and the legal discourse adopted by the WTO’s Appellate Body, this book highlights the active role of language in diplomatic negotiations and in interpreting international law. In addition, it also shows that the debate on the effectiveness and legitimacy of International Law cannot be separated from the linguistic issue.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Fundacao Getúlio Vargas (FGV), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Evandro Menezes de Carvalho

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access