Irigaray as a Reader of Hegel. The Feminine as a Marginal Presence

Luce Irigaray has always had a tumultuous but lasting relationship with Hegel's philosophy, proof of which is present throughout her work, from Speculum of The Other Woman (1974) to her most recent To be Born (2017). As we will show in this article, the object of the Belgian philosopher's criticism is the Hegelian dialectic: Irigaray reads this process as a form of violent reductionism, as the appropriation of the Other. In the Hegelian discourse the Woman - as in the case of Antigone - has been placed on the margins of politics, thought and community. But perhaps it is precisely for this reason - as we shall try to demonstrate - that she represents and reveals the persistence, beyond any possible edict and beyond any possibility of punishment, of this chaotic element, of a permanent and irrepressible conflict.