Narrative Contingency and International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

This chapter will argue that international humanitarian law (IHL) is embedded in narratives that shape its history and meaning. Some international lawyers have argued that these narrative possibilities are necessarily constrained by a Western perspective that limits the potential of the law. Indeed, theories of narrative history consider that the possibilities of any narrative history are limited by prevailing tropes and can only relate a humanist story of ‘man’s’ encounter with the legal order. Nevertheless, alternative aesthetic and theoretical frameworks are beginning to emerge that could facilitate new ways of understanding IHL. Remembrance of Earth’s Past, a science fiction trilogy by Chinese writer Cixin Liu, provides an opportunity to explore a strikingly different vision of law, crimes against humanity, and the very notion of humanity. It suggests how narratives that draw on non-Western, non-anthropocentric ethics might underpin a distinct type of law.