ABSTRACT

In this paper, I examine disputes about citizenship in Northern Ireland though the lens of poet Seamus Heaney’s 2004 version of Antigone, The Burial at Thebes. Citizenship and identity in Northern Ireland – if people are Irish or British – has been a central issue of the conflict there. The 1998 peace agreement promised to allow people to identify however they wished, and not be forced to adopt an identity they rejected. But recent controversies, including Brexit and a major legal challenge, have shown that the legal concept of citizenship has not been able to fulfil this promise. Sophocles’ Antigone presents a great clash between the authority of the State and deep personal/morality commitments, and the tragedy that result. Heaney’s Antigone casts light on the fundamental clash at the centre of citizenship, and points us toward a flexible, contextual multi-level citizenship as a solution to law’s rigid conception of what a citizen must be.

摘要

在本文中，我通过诗人西默斯·希尼 2004 年版的安提戈涅《底比斯的葬礼》的镜头，考察了有关北爱尔兰公民身份的争议。北爱尔兰的公民身份和身份——如果人们是爱尔兰人或英国人——一直是那里冲突的核心问题。1998 年的和平协议承诺允许人们根据自己的意愿进行识别，而不是被迫采用他们拒绝的身份。但最近的争议，包括英国退欧和重大法律挑战，表明公民的法律概念未能兑现这一承诺。索福克勒斯的《安提戈涅》呈现了国家权威与深刻的个人/道德承诺以及由此产生的悲剧之间的巨大冲突。希尼的安提戈涅揭示了公民身份中心的根本冲突，并为我们指明了一个灵活的、