fictionality
State of being invented
Fictionality is the quality of being fictional—invented rather than factual.
Literary scholars use the term when examining how texts signal their imaginative status and how readers recognize and respond to invented narratives: The fictionality of the memoir was called into question when sources contradicted key scenes.
The concept matters in debates about autofiction, docudrama, and other hybrid forms where the line between real and invented blurs.
New and unusual
- novellaShort fictional book
- thrillerSuspense-driven narrative genre
- romanceLove and its excitement
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
mystery · horror · comedy · tragedy · satire · dystopian · metafiction · fable
Not present anywhere
- imaginaryExisting only in thought
- inventedCreated something new
- unrealNot actual, or astonishing
- made-upFabricated, not factual
counterfactual · hypothetical · constructed · fabricated · mythical · legendary · apocryphal · pseudo
Capacity for original thought
- inventionNew device or method
- world-buildingCreating fictional universes
- make-believeImaginative play or fantasy
- mythmakingCrafting foundational narratives
fabrication · ideation · originality · pretend · daydream · fanciful · whimsy · counterfactual
Storyline or land parcel
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
- protagonistStory's central figure
- antagonistOne who opposes another
- narratorOne who tells events
characterization · dialogue · setting · theme · arc · exposition · denouement · point-of-view
novel
New and unusual
fantasy · mystery · horror · comedy · tragedy · satire · dystopian · metafiction · fable · parable
nonexistent
Not present anywhere
made-up · counterfactual · hypothetical · constructed · fabricated · mythical · legendary · apocryphal · pseudo · simulacrum
creativity
Capacity for original thought
- inventionNew device or method
- world-buildingCreating fictional universes
- make-believeImaginative play or fantasy
mythmaking · fabrication · ideation · originality · pretend · daydream · fanciful · whimsy · counterfactual · speculation
plot
Storyline or land parcel
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
- protagonistStory's central figure
- antagonistOne who opposes another
narrator · characterization · dialogue · setting · theme · arc · exposition · denouement · point-of-view · omniscient
fictionalityfactuality
Adherence to truth
nonfiction · reality · actuality · truthfulness · historicity
fictionalitynonfiction
Literature about real events
documentary · reportage · journalism · historiography · chronicle
fictionalityreality
What actually exists
actuality · realness · existence · concreteness · materiality
- fictionalized memoirLife story partly invented
fictionalized, fictionalize, fictionalizing, fictionalization