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Contributions of Fiction to State-Theoretical Issues. Joseph Roth's Novels in Textual Cooperation with Carl Schmitt and Hans Kelsen

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Abstract

Political scientists have discussed relations between fictional and non-fictional texts in different ways. None of the perspectives so far provide methodological tools for integrating fictional literature into an already established political-theoretical debate, which is part of the canon of political thought. This article presents a ‘textual cooperation’ of state theory and fiction, by examining Kelsen's and Schmitt's conceptions of state transformation and expanding these concepts via analysis of two novels by Joseph Roth: The Spider's Web and Rebellion. Fiction contributes to a theoretical debate by illuminating blind spots of theoretical concepts and clarifying some ambiguities with a plausible narrative of what could be in the world.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Political Science, University of Vienna, Universitätsstraße 7, Wien, A-1010, Austria

    Marion Löffler

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  1. Marion Löffler
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Löffler, M. Contributions of Fiction to State-Theoretical Issues. Joseph Roth's Novels in Textual Cooperation with Carl Schmitt and Hans Kelsen. Eur Polit Sci 9, 328–340 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2010.32

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