Novel Negotiation

Abstract

In dispute resolution, a field of study that is inherently interdisciplinary, there is no clear metric for how we ought to delineate the limits of relevant domains. Literature, with its ability to transport us to different times, places, lives, and stories, can reveal critical and crystallizing truths about human interaction in both conflicts and transactions. Careful and cross-disciplinary analysis of literary works will only serve to amplify our understanding of negotiation behavior in ways that can enrich our writing, our teaching, and our thinking on negotiation. In this essay, I address three different novels and highlight the ways in which they help elucidate, and provide new insight into, some fundamental and familiar aspects of negotiation. While the situations in these novels often dovetail with academic dispute resolution literature on aspects relevant to the negotiation process, they add nuance and amplification.

Keywords: Negotiation, Law and Literature, Dispute Resolution, Law and Humanities

JEL Classification: K1