Antigone, Interrupted
Cambridge University Press, 5/2/2013
EAN 9781107036970, ISBN10: 1107036976
Hardcover, 340 pages, 23.5 x 15.7 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
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.
Preface
Introduction
Part I. Interruption
Introduction to Part I
1. Tragedy, maternalism, ethics
toward an agonistic humanism
2. 'Antigone versus Oedipus', I
feminist theory and the turn to Antigone
3. 'Antigone versus Oedipus', II
the directors' agon in Germany in Autumn
Part II. Conspiracy
Introduction to Part II
4. Mourning, membership, and the politics of exception
plotting Creon's conspiracy with democracy
5. From lamentation to logos
Antigone's conspiracy with language
6. Sacrifice, sorority, integrity
Antigone's conspiracy with Ismene
Conclusion.