Work

The Visibility of the State: Symbolic and Allegorical Representations in the Work of Carl Schmitt

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This article argues that Carl Schmitt’s approach to the visual expression of political power evolves from an early reliance on symbolic form to a later adoption of allegory, influenced by Walter Benjamin. Initially attracted to the Catholic Church as a symbolic synthesis of bureaucracy and charisma, Schmitt grew disillusioned with its modes of visual representation. He then turned to political myth, envisioning the national leader as the symbolic incarnation of a unified people. This model, however, also proved untenable. In search of an alternative, Schmitt drew on Benjamin’s theory of allegory to retrieve the Baroque tradition of state personification: Sovereigns, like actors on a stage, outwardly represent the state without claiming to exhaust its meaning. I contend that this allegorical framework allowed Schmitt not only to sidestep the totalizing tendencies of political myth but also to open a conceptual path for reimagining Europe’s postwar fractured space.

Source: Political Theory

DOI: 10.1177/00905917261433978

Author: Jerónimo Rilla

Language: English

Topic: Political Theology and Sovereignty

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650

Funders: British Academy, HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions

Awards: The racialized Leviathan: A History of state personifications, from Hobbes to Sarmiento, G8003858137