Etymology of Metafiction
The term “metafiction” is a compound word derived from two Greek roots: “meta,” meaning “beyond” or “transcending,” and “fiction,” referring to literary works of imaginative storytelling.
Coined in the mid-20th century, notably associated with the works of literary critic and novelist Patricia Waugh, metafiction represents a self-reflective narrative mode that goes beyond traditional fiction by emphasizing its own artificiality and the act of storytelling.
Metafictional texts often incorporate elements such as self-aware characters, authorial intrusions, and explicit references to the creative process, thereby challenging the illusion of reality in storytelling. This invites readers to contemplate the nature of fiction itself and the complex interplay between literature and reality.
Meanings of Metafiction
| Aspect | Meaning |
| Narrative Self-Reflection | Metafiction involves a form of storytelling that deliberately draws attention to its own constructed nature and the process of narration. |
| Playful and Self-Aware | Metafictional works often exhibit a playful and self-aware quality, with characters or narrators acknowledging their existence within a fictional world or making reference to the act of writing. |
| Authorial Intrusion | It may include instances where the author intrudes into the narrative, breaking the fourth wall, and interacting directly with the reader. |
| Challenging Reality Illusion | Metafiction challenges the conventional illusion of reality in literature by foregrounding the artificiality of the text, encouraging readers to question the boundary between fiction and reality. |
| Exploration of Creative Process | It explores the creative process itself, with writers using metafiction to comment on the act of writing, storytelling conventions, and the role of the author. |
| Interrogating Truth and Fiction | Metafiction often raises questions about the relationship between truth and fiction, prompting readers to consider the subjectivity of reality and the ways in which stories shape our understanding of the world. |
| Critical Examination | In literary theory, metafiction is a subject of critical examination, as scholars analyze how it challenges traditional narrative structures and engages with broader philosophical and epistemological questions about literature. |
Definition of Metafiction as a Theoretical Term
Metafiction, as a theoretical term in literature, refers to a narrative strategy characterized by self-reflexivity, where a work of fiction intentionally draws attention to its own artificiality and the process of storytelling.
This self-awareness often manifests through devices such as authorial intrusion, characters acknowledging their fictional existence, or explicit references to the act of writing. Metafiction serves as a critical tool to challenge conventional narrative norms and provoke contemplation on the nature of fiction and its relationship with reality.
Metafiction: Theorists, Works and Arguments
Theorists:
- Patricia Waugh: A prominent literary critic who has extensively discussed metafiction in her theoretical writings, contributing to its critical analysis.
- Linda Hutcheon: Known for her theories on postmodernism in literature, Hutcheon explores metafiction as a significant element within postmodern narratives in her theoretical works.
Theoretical Books:
- Narrative Imagination and Everyday Life by Patricia Waugh: In this theoretical work, Waugh delves into the concept of metafiction and its implications for narrative and storytelling.
- A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction by Linda Hutcheon: Hutcheon’s book offers a comprehensive exploration of postmodernism in literature, with significant attention to metafiction as a key component of postmodern narratives.
Key Arguments:
- Deconstruction of Traditional Narratives: Metafiction challenges conventional narrative structures, breaking down boundaries between fiction and reality, author and reader, and often subverting linear storytelling.
- Interrogation of Truth and Fiction: Metafiction prompts readers to question the distinction between truth and fiction, exploring how narratives shape our understanding of reality.
- Exploration of Authorship and Creativity: Many metafictional works, as discussed in these theoretical writings, delve into the role of the author and the creative process, emphasizing the constructed nature of storytelling.
- Engagement with Postmodern Themes: Metafiction aligns with postmodern themes of skepticism, self-reflexivity, and the rejection of grand narratives, as elucidated in these theoretical works.
- Aesthetic Innovation: Metafiction serves as a vehicle for experimenting with narrative techniques, pushing the boundaries of literary conventions, and inviting readers to engage with storytelling in novel and thought-provoking ways, as analyzed in these theoretical works.
Metafiction and Literary Theories
- Postmodernism: Metafiction is closely associated with postmodern literature, which challenges established norms and embraces self-reflexivity. Theorists like Jean-François Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard analyze metafiction as a means of deconstructing traditional narrative structures and exploring the fragmented nature of contemporary culture.
- Narratology: Within the study of narrative structures, metafiction is pertinent because it disrupts and calls attention to the conventions of storytelling. Narratologists such as Gérard Genette and Roland Barthes examine how metafictional elements impact the reader’s engagement with a narrative.
- Reader-Response Theory: Scholars like Wolfgang Iser and Stanley Fish have explored how readers interact with metafictional texts. Metafiction often invites readers to actively engage with the text, making them aware of their role as interpreters, aligning with the principles of reader-response theory.
- Authorship and Intertextuality: Theoretical frameworks that examine the author’s role and intertextuality, such as Roland Barthes’ “The Death of the Author” and Julia Kristeva’s concept of intertextuality, are relevant to metafiction. It often blurs the lines between author and narrator and frequently incorporates intertextual references to other works, inviting analysis within these contexts.
- Structuralism and Post-Structuralism: Metafiction can be analyzed through structuralist and post-structuralist lenses, with theorists like Claude Lévi-Strauss and Michel Foucault exploring how narratives construct meaning and how metafiction disrupts these constructs.
- Deconstruction: As a form of literary deconstruction, it challenges binary oppositions and hierarchies found in traditional narratives. Jacques Derrida’s deconstructionist theories can be applied to analyze the destabilizing effects of metafiction on narrative structures.
- Fictionality and Semiotics: The concept of fictionality and semiotics in literature, as explored by Umberto Eco and other semioticians, is pertinent to metafiction. It often calls attention to the constructed nature of signs and symbols within a narrative.
Metafiction in Literary Criticism
- If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino: This novel stands as a quintessential example of metafiction, adopting a narrative-within-a-narrative format that actively engages the reader. It consistently reflects on the act of reading and the construction of stories, emphasizing the self-aware nature of the narrative.
- Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov: Pale Fire is a complex work of metafiction that presents itself as a scholarly commentary on a poem authored by a fictional figure. The commentary, written by a character named Charles Kinbote, evolves into a narrative in its own right, blurring the lines between authorship, commentary, and the narrative itself. This novel epitomizes the intricate interplay between reality and fiction within a narrative.
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski: This novel is renowned for its intricate and unconventional narrative structure. It incorporates multiple layers of storytelling, including footnotes, appendices, and commentary. The story revolves around a family’s encounter with a mysterious house, and the novel becomes a meditation on the act of reading and interpreting a text. It challenges readers’ perceptions of reality and fiction.
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: Vonnegut’s novel is a classic example of metafiction, particularly within the science fiction genre. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, becomes “unstuck in time,” experiencing events in a non-linear manner. Vonnegut himself appears as a character in the narrative, engaging with the story and commenting on the complexities of narrating war experiences. The novel prompts reflection on the reliability of memory and the traditional structure of war narratives.
These novels have garnered extensive literary analysis and criticism due to their innovative use of metafiction, inviting readers to contemplate the nature of storytelling, the role of authors, and the intricate relationship between fiction and reality.
Suggested Readings
- Calvino, Italo. If on a winter’s night a traveler. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981.
- Danielewski, Mark Z. House of Leaves. Pantheon Books, 2000.
- Hutcheon, Linda. A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms. University of Illinois Press, 1985.
- Hutcheon, Linda. Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1984.
- Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire. Vintage, 1989.
- Waugh, Patricia. Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction. Routledge, 1984.
- Waugh, Patricia. Feminine Fictions: Revisiting the Postmodern. Routledge, 2009.
- Waugh, Patricia, editor. Metafiction and Metahistory in Contemporary Women’s Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
- Waugh, Patricia. Postmodernism: A Reader. Routledge, 1992.
- Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. Delacorte Press, 1969.