The article reconstructs the strategies through which Carl Schmitt reconstructed his scholarly production in the National Socialist era, during and after World War II. These strategies include multiple identifications with historical or literary characters, as well as narrative fragments of a mythologization of the self as a victim or a prisoner. In this key, the article investigates Schmitt’s relationship with two works by Herman Melville. Moby Dick, a key text for understanding the role of the “whale” and sea monsters in Land and Sea; and Benito Cereno, a tale in which Schmitt sees his own destiny depicted. By cross-referencing these two texts with his own interpretation of the symbol of Leviathan, it is possible to derive new keys to reading Land and Sea, the enigmatic little book from 1942.
Schmittologie. Schmitt, Melville e i miti politici
Massimo Palma
2024-01-01
Abstract
The article reconstructs the strategies through which Carl Schmitt reconstructed his scholarly production in the National Socialist era, during and after World War II. These strategies include multiple identifications with historical or literary characters, as well as narrative fragments of a mythologization of the self as a victim or a prisoner. In this key, the article investigates Schmitt’s relationship with two works by Herman Melville. Moby Dick, a key text for understanding the role of the “whale” and sea monsters in Land and Sea; and Benito Cereno, a tale in which Schmitt sees his own destiny depicted. By cross-referencing these two texts with his own interpretation of the symbol of Leviathan, it is possible to derive new keys to reading Land and Sea, the enigmatic little book from 1942.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
