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The paper investigates the capacity of historiographic metafiction to deal with the internal contradictions that characterize writing and story-telling, and to transform those very contradictions into analytical tools. An analysis of Margaret Atwood's novel Alias Grace will cast light on how postmodern texts may address otherness not only as a theme, but also as the starting point for reflecting on the politics of representation. This paper will focus on how the novel works through the interlacing of several Victorian discourses in order to cast a new light on the story of a notorious nineteenth-century murderess. As the latter progressively finds her voice, the novel also challenges contemporary readers' perception of identity and alterity, as well as their assumptions about Victorian values and sensibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the novel "Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood is presented. It explores the role of the lead character Grace Marks, the Irish serving maid accused of murders in the novel. It examines the representational significance of a prison in the work as the site of confinement in a series of limiting enclosures that define Grace's identity and narrative style. It also addresses the gender regulation represented by the prison in the novel.