Retrolution

Abstract

The relation of common law to history has always been a troubled one. The early modern sages of common law borrowed from their theological counterparts in prefering hierarchy to history, tradition to texts, and time beyond memory to the proofs of the past. Using the example of a photo-portrait of a female lawyer, this article elaborates upon the marketing concept of retrolution – the retro fiction – to show how common lawyers manipulate the past so as to persuade the audience of the present.