From Psychoanalysis to Politics. Antigone as a Revolutionary in Judith Butler and Slavoj i ek

In this paper I will analyse two contemporary readings of Sophocle's Antigone: the one proposed by Judith Butler in the influential Antigone's Claim (2000) and the response to it by Slavoj i ek in Interrogating the Real (2005), Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002) and other works. Both readings stem from a psychoanalytical (Lacanian) approach in order to face social and political issues. After providing the reader with an investigation of Butler's and i ek's interpretations, I will draw a comparison of the two, showing that, for both, Antigone is a revolutionary figure that challenges the established social order.