The Penelopiad : A Postmodern Fiction

Abstract

Postmodernism is commonly described as incredulity towards metanarratives. A
metanarrative is an abstract idea that is thought to be a comprehensive explanation
of historical experience or knowledge. It claims to arrive at a single universal truth.
But postmodernism undercuts this holistic stance by establishing alternative
possibilities for construction of truth. The word ‚parody‛ is still tainted with
eighteenth century notion of wit and ridicule but coming out of such period limited
definitions, parody in postmodern texts can mean witty ridicule as well as
intertextuality or ironic quotation. The article analyses Margaret Atwood’s novella
The Penelopiad, exploring the postmodern conventions of historiographic
metafiction and parody. Employing her tongue-in-cheek humour and featuring two
centres of consciousness, Atwood subverts the Homeric omniscient narrator.
Resurrecting the mysteriously veiled figure of Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, who is
known for her nobility and constancy, Atwood gives Penelope the narrative voice,
telling a widely different tale from the Homeric version.