Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 8 December 2011
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Antigone (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)
Oedipus, the former ruler of Thebes, has died. Now, when his young daughter Antigone defies her uncle, Kreon, the new ruler, because he has prohibited the burial of her dead brother, she and he enact a primal conflict between young and old, woman and man, individual and ruler, family and state, courageous and self-sacrificing reverence for the gods of the earth and perhaps self-serving allegiance to the gods of the sky.
The celebrated author of Gender Trouble here redefines Antigone's legacy, recovering her revolutionary significance and liberating it for a progressive feminism and sexual politics. Butler's new interpretation does nothing less than reconceptualize the incest taboo in relation to kinship -- and open up the concept of kinship to cultural change. Antigone, the renowned insurgent from Sophocles's Oedipus,has long been a feminist icon of defiance. But what has remained unclear is whether she escapes from the forms of power that she opposes.
An exceptionally compelling translation that captures the feel of the original. The introduction and the end material add several useful dimensions. Highly recommended!
