Daniel Bonilla Maldonado2026-03-222026-03-22202110.1017/9781108985888.002https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108985888.002https://andeanlibrary.org/handle/123456789/82406In the first chapter, I explore the relationship between narrative and identity. More precisely, in this chapter, I argue (i) that narratives construct and give unity to individual and collective identities; (ii) that modern law, understood as part of modern culture and not as its consequence, constructs a narrative that has contributed to the creation of the modern subject – a narrative that is built around the conceptual opposition "subject of law/legal barbarian"; and (iii) that comparative law has played a central role in the formation of this conceptual opposition. Comparative law has been fundamental for forming the legal “self” and "other" of modernity.enNarrativeOpposition (politics)ModernityBarbarianSubject (documents)SociologyLegal realismPolitical scienceLawEpistemologybook-chapter