• ISSN: 2382-6282 (Print); 2972-3108 (Online)
    • Abbreviated Title: Int. J. Lang. Lit. Linguist.
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    • DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL
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HOME > Archives > 2026 > Volume 12 Number 2 (2026) >
IJLLL 2026 Vol.12(2): 99-103
DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL.2026.12.2.638

Sublime Illusion in Literature: Žižek’s post-structural Criticism of Antigone

Qian Cheng
School of Chinese language and Literature, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
Email: Qcheng2712@163.com

School of Chinese language and Literature, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China

Abstract—From Slavoj Žižek’s post-structuralist perspective, the notion of the sublime in literature is not a genuine elevation of the human spirit but an ideological illusion. Žižek argues that the sublime is constructed through sentimentally charged ideological frameworks that transform political irrationality into seemingly noble ideals. In his post-structuralist literary criticism, Žižek deconstructs literary sublimity into two interrelated components: the sublime object and the site of the Thing (das Ding). He views the aesthetic impact of literary imagery as emerging from the dynamic interaction between these two elements. Furthermore, Žižek highlights the significance of literary characters who actively resist or traverse the sublime illusion, as their actions expose and dismantle ideological deception. Through an analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone, Žižek explores how the sublime illusion is ideologically constructed within the civic sphere, focusing particularly on Antigone’s defiance as a form of resistance. By applying the concept of the sublime illusion, Žižek bridges post-structuralist theory with ancient Greek tragedy, offering fresh and critical insights into literature, ideology, and politics.
 
Index Terms—Žižek, sublime, illusion, Antigone, action, post-structuralism, Greek tragedy

Cite: Qian Cheng, "Sublime Illusion in Literature: Žižek’s post-structural Criticism of Antigone," International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 99-103, 2026.

Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).


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