Antigone, Interrupted

"Sophocles' Antigone is a touchstone in democratic, feminist and legal theory, and possibly the most commented upon play in the history of philosophy and political theory. Bonnie Honig's rereading of it therefore involves intervening in a host of literatures and unsettling many of their governing assumptions. Exploring the power of Antigone in a variety of political, cultural, and theoretical settings, Honig identifies the 'Antigone-effect' - which moves those who enlist Antigone for their politics from activism into lamentation. She argues that Antigone's own lamentations can be seen not just as signs of dissidence but rather as markers of a rival world view with its own sovereignty and vitality. Honig argues that the play does not offer simply a model for resistance politics or 'equal dignity in death', but a more positive politics of counter-sovereignty and solidarity which emphasizes equality in life"-- Provided by publisher Contents 9 Preface 11 Acknowledgments 16 Introduction 21 Part I Interruption 31 Introduction to Part I 33 Chapter 1 Tragedy, maternalism, ethics: toward an agonistic humanism 37 a new humanism? 43 four women and a funeral: the costs of classicization 51 Chapter 2 "Antigone versus Oedipus," I: feminist theory and the turn to Antigone 56 antigone in argentina: elshtain and taylor 58 butler's antigonean turns 61 (i) Precarious Life 62 (ii) Antigone's Claim 65 Absorbing the lessons of Antigone: Edelman, latency, resignification 70 framed 74 crimp, a road not taken? 76 (i) Butler, Crimp, and the quilt 81 (ii) The politics of beautiful death 84 from tragedy to melodrama: genres of generations 86 Chapter 3 "Antigone versus Oedipus," II: the directors' agon in Germany in Autumn 88 nothing to do with sophocles? "antigone fever" in germany in autumn2 90 tragedy and melodrama - asymmetries of (de)classicization 96 re-emplotment or genre-switching and/as politics 100 the battle of the brothers 101 Part II Conspiracy 103 Introduction to Part II 105 Chapter 4 Mourning, membership, and the politics of exception: plotting Creon's conspiracy with democracy 115 regulating lament 120 antigone's laments: homeric mourning in democratic athens 123 antigone's undecidabilities in context 132 creon's grief 135 Chapter 5 From lamentation to logos: Antigone's conspiracy with language 141 antigone's dirge: prior receptions 143 antigone's dirge, reconsidered 148 (i) Parodying Pericles 149 (ii) Mimicking Creon 150 (iii) Citing Herodotus 152 the meaning of life and death 160 working the interval: the corporeal voice 162 the "hamletization" of antigone? 167 Chapter 6 Sacrifice, sorority, integrity: Antigone's conspiracy with Ismene 171 "we are not born to contend with men" - ismene's reception history 173 "i don't deny a thing" - the problem of the two burials 176 "keep it a secret" - if ismene did it 181 "i did it, yes" - ismene speaks 183 "words alone" - the sisters' second fight 185 "let her choose" - lacans ethic's and/as forced choice 191 "what do i care for life, cut off from you?" - ismene's modernity 197 “ὦ κοινὸν αὐτάδελφον ἰσμήνης κάρα” – “ismene-head” 201 adianoeta and the ironies of reception 204 Trauerspiel and/as tragedy 106 Conspiracy's genre? Antigone as Melodrama 112 Conclusion 210 About the Cover Image 218 Notes 221 Preface 221 Introduction 223 Introduction to Part I 225 1 Tragedy, maternalism, ethics: toward an agonistic humanism 225 2 "Antigone versus Oedipus," I: feminist theory and the turn to Antigone 231 3 "Antigone versus Oedipus," II: the directors' agon in Germany in Autumn 247 Introduction to Part II 254 4 Mourning, membership, and the politics of exception: plotting Creon's conspiracy with democracy 257 5 From lamentation to logos: Antigone's conspiracy with language 273 6 Sacrifice, sorority, integrity: Antigone's conspiracy with Ismene 285 Conclusion 297 Bibliography 299 Index 331 "Sophocles' Antigone is a touchstone in democratic, feminist and legal theory, and possibly the most commented upon play in the history of philosophy and political theory. Bonnie Honig's rereading of it therefore involves intervening in a host of literatures and unsettling many of their governing assumptions. Exploring the power of Antigone in a variety of political, cultural, and theoretical settings, Honig identifies the 'Antigone-effect' - which moves those who enlist Antigone for their politics from activism into lamentation. She argues that Antigone's own lamentations can be seen not just as signs of dissidence but rather as markers of a rival world view with its own sovereignty and vitality. Honig argues that the play does not offer simply a model for resistance politics or 'equal dignity in death', but a more positive politics of counter-sovereignty and solidarity which emphasizes equality in life"-- Résumé de l'éditeur Antigone, Interrupted explores the intertwined history of law, politics, gender and humanism through a new reading of Sophocles' classical tragedy. Studying the play in its fifth-century and modern contexts, Bonnie Honig argues for an Antigone committed not just to dissidence but to a positive politics of counter-sovereignty and solidarity.