metafiction
Fiction examining itself
Metafiction is fiction that draws attention to its own status as fiction—acknowledging its artifice rather than maintaining the illusion of reality.
Characters might address the reader directly, comment on the plot they're in, or question whether they exist: The narrator paused to wonder why the author had given her such an implausible backstory.
The technique invites readers to consider how stories are constructed and what fiction means.
Imitative artistic tribute
- parodySatirical imitation
- bricolageConstruction from available materials
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
playfulness · hyperreality · simulacrum · palimpsest · eclecticism · deconstruction · indeterminacy · anti-narrative
Connections between written works
- reflexivityQuality of self-reference
- fictionalityQuality of being imaginary
- mimesisArtistic imitation of reality
- fabulationCreating fanciful narratives
Alluding to itself
- breaking the fourth wallAcknowledging fictional boundaries
- unreliable narratorStoryteller whose credibility wavers
- authorial intrusionWriter commenting within narrative
- direct addressSpeaking to someone named
Delusional self-proclaimed knight-errant
- Slaughterhouse-FiveAntiwar satire, time-fractured
- HopscotchNumbered squares, tossed marker
- Infinite JestLimitless source of amusement
pastiche
Imitative artistic tribute
- parodySatirical imitation
- bricolageConstruction from available materials
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
irony · playfulness · hyperreality · simulacrum · palimpsest · eclecticism · deconstruction · indeterminacy · anti-narrative · collage
intertextuality
Connections between written works
- reflexivityQuality of self-reference
- fictionalityQuality of being imaginary
- mimesisArtistic imitation of reality
fabulation · metanarrative · self-consciousness · autofiction
self-referential
Alluding to itself
- breaking the fourth wallAcknowledging fictional boundaries
- unreliable narratorStoryteller whose credibility wavers
- authorial intrusionWriter commenting within narrative
Borges
Nabokov · Cervantes · DeLillo · David Foster Wallace · Eco
Don Quixote
Delusional self-proclaimed knight-errant
- Slaughterhouse-FiveAntiwar satire, time-fractured
- HopscotchNumbered squares, tossed marker
- Infinite JestLimitless source of amusement
- genresaction, comedy, fantasy, horror, documentary
- fiction writingnovels, plot, chapters, character, setting
- Italian LiteratureDante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Dante Alighieri
- literary devicesmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration
- literary termsmetaphor, character analysis, symbolism, prologue, epilogue
- literary fictionliterary realism, character-driven, character study, character studies, novella
metafictionrealism
Accepting things as they are
literary realism · naturalism · traditional narrative · verisimilitude · illusionism
metafictionsocial realism
Unidealized portrayal of workers' lives
genre fiction · formula fiction · popular fiction · pulp fiction