Antigone transgenica. Nuove indagini critiche tra genere distopico e mitologia

Abstract

In the 20th century, it is common to find some rewritings of classical myths set in post-apocalyptic scenarios. The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative research field that combine the study of dystopian literature and myth criticism. The new myth-critical approach considers three social innovations: informatization, which is essential in dystopian literature as well; migration and postcolonial literature, which is linked to the concept of the otherness science fiction thrives on; and finally, consumerism, which leads to eternal technical reproducibility, also presented in the dystopian works, especially in the concept of cloning. A concrete example are the dystopian adaptations of the myth of Antigone: the movie I Cannibali by Liliana Cavani, the epistolary novel In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster, and the play Antígona Gelada by the portuguese author Armando Nascimento Rosa.