This volume explores Mexican dramatic receptions of Sophocles' Antigone from the 20th and 21st century, investigating the thematic evolution of Antigone in Mexico and its cumulative impact on Mexican heritage discourse.
The book focuses on three works in particular: José Fuentes Mares’ La Joven Antígona se va a la Guerra (1968), Olga Harmony’s La Ley de Creón (1984), and Perla de la Rosa’s Antígona: las voces que incendian el desierto (2004). These plays, examined within the context of other Mexican adaptations, represent pivotal moments in the development of Mexican reception of Antigone, each corresponding to a specific change in the character of Mexico’s engagement with Antigone as a factor of shifting sociopolitical issues. The Antigones of Mexico challenge projects of national mythmaking, social and gender roles, as well as societal failings and cultural apathies, transforming a cultural imposition into a veritable exemplar of Mexican heritage that voices the grievances of specific and highly localized communities.
Antigone a la Mexicana is suitable for scholars and students in Classics, Classical Receptions, Latin American Studies, Theatre, and Post-Colonial Studies. Mexicanists and scholars of Mexican historiography will also find this book of interest.