Three Mexican Reimaginings of Antigone as a Strategy to Resist the Silencing of the Horrors of the Drug War During Calderón’s Presidency (2006–2012)

Abstract

The present article analyzes three Mexican reimaginings of Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, written during the drug war under President Calderón’s administration (2006–2012)—a period marked by widespread violence that resulted in the murder or disappearance of thousands of Mexicans. The works examined are: Antígona González by Sara Uribe (2012), Usted está aquí by Bárbara Colio, and Podrías llamarte Antígona by Gabriela Ynclán (both from 2009). The paper begins by presenting a general overview of the historical context, followed by an exploration of specific manifestations of violence and the consequences of the war, as integrated into each play. It then analyzes how elements of the original tragedy are recovered and transformed in these reimaginings, particularly through the reconfiguration of the characters Antigone, Creon, and Ismene. The analysis focuses on how, in these three adaptations, struggles are dramatized through "Antigones" who resist the silencing roles of "Ismenes" and confront the authoritarian figures of "Creons." This study argues that the playwrights draw upon Antigone as a strategic framework to engage with, denounce, and reflect on one of the most significant humanitarian crises in twenty-first-century Latin America.