Listening to the Dead: Exploring the Differend in Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad

This chapter explores Margaret Atwood’s novella The Penelopiad from the perspective of Lyotard’s concept of the differend. The twelve hanged maids are arguably victims of a literary differend in the Odyssey, where they are not given the chance to tell their own story, let alone obtain justice for their brutal murders. In The Penelopiad they are granted a voice although, despite a posthumous appearance in court, their differend is not transformed into a litigation. However, Atwood’s novella bears witness to this differend, allowing it to be expressed if not resolved.