Difference between revisions of "Metafiction"

Revision as of 18:04, 25 April 2016

Metafiction is a literary device used to self-consciously and systematically draw attention to a work's status as an artifact.

Description

It poses questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually using irony and self-reflection. It can be compared to presentational theatre, which does not let the audience forget it is viewing a play; metafiction forces readers to be aware that they are reading a fictional work.

Devices

Common metafictive devices in literature include:

• A story about a writer who creates a story
• A story that features itself (as a narrative or as a physical object) as its own prop or MacGuffin
• A story containing another work of fiction within itself
• A story addressing the specific conventions of story, such as title, character conventions, paragraphing or plots
• A novel where the narrator intentionally exposes him or herself as the author of the story
• A book in which the book itself seeks interaction with the reader
• A story in which the readers of the story itself force the author to change the story
• Narrative footnotes, which continue the story while commenting on it
• A story in which the characters are aware that they are in a story
• A story in which the characters make reference to the author or his previous work
• These elements of metafiction are similar to devices used in metacinematic techniques.

This can be related in O'Briens book, "The Things They Carried" in the section called How to Tell a True War Story.

See also

• Artifact
• Literary device
• Literature
• MacGuffin
• Metacinema

External links

• Metafiction @ Wikipedia