Metafiction  

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-'''Metafiction''' is a type of [[fiction]] which self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. +'''Metafiction''' is a type of [[fiction]] that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually, [[irony]] and self-reflection. In a sense, it can be compared to presentational theatre, that does not let the audience forget they are viewing a play; metafiction does not let the reader forget he or she is reading a fictional work.
-It is the term given to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. It usually involves [[irony]] and is self-reflective. It can be compared to presentational theatre in a sense; presentational theatre does not let the audience forget they are viewing a play, and metafiction does not let the readers forget they are reading a work of fiction. +Metafiction is primarily associated with Modernist and Postmodernist literature, but is found at least as early as the 9th century [[One Thousand and One Nights]], [[Miguel de Cervantes|Cervantes]]' ''[[Don Quixote]]'' and [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]]'s 14th Century ''[[Canterbury Tales]]''.
-Metafiction is primarily associated with Modernist and Postmodernist literature but can be found at least as far back as [[Miguel de Cervantes|Cervantes]]' ''[[Don Quixote]]'' and even [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]]'s 14th Century ''[[Canterbury Tales]]''.+In the [[1950s]], several French novelists published works whose styles were collectively dubbed "[[nouveau roman]]" ("new novel"). These "new novels" were characterized by their bending of [[Literary genre|genre]] and [[Stylistics (linguistics)|style]] and often included elements of metafiction. It became prominent in the [[1960s]], with authors such as [[John Barth]], [[Robert Coover]], [[Kurt Vonnegut]], and [[William H. Gass]]. Important American examples from that time include: Barth's ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]'', Coover's ''[[The Babysitter]]'' and ''[[The Magic Poker]]'', Vonnegut's ''[[Slaughterhouse Five]]'', and Gass's ''[[Willie Master's Lonesome Wife]]''.
- +
-In the [[1950s]], several French novelists published works whose styles were collectively dubbed "[[nouveau roman]]", meaning "new novel". These "new novels" were characterized by their bending of [[Literary genre|genre]] and [[Stylistics (linguistics)|style]] and often included elements of metafiction. +
- +
-It came to prominence in the early [[1960s]] through such authors as [[John Barth]], [[Robert Coover]], and [[William H. Gass]]. The classic examples from the time include: Barth's ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]'', [[Robert Coover]]'s ''[[The Babysitter]]'' and ''[[The Magic Poker]]'', and Gass's ''[[Willie Master's Lonesome Wife]]''.+
== Related == == Related ==

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Metafiction is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually, irony and self-reflection. In a sense, it can be compared to presentational theatre, that does not let the audience forget they are viewing a play; metafiction does not let the reader forget he or she is reading a fictional work.

Metafiction is primarily associated with Modernist and Postmodernist literature, but is found at least as early as the 9th century One Thousand and One Nights, Cervantes' Don Quixote and Chaucer's 14th Century Canterbury Tales.

In the 1950s, several French novelists published works whose styles were collectively dubbed "nouveau roman" ("new novel"). These "new novels" were characterized by their bending of genre and style and often included elements of metafiction. It became prominent in the 1960s, with authors such as John Barth, Robert Coover, Kurt Vonnegut, and William H. Gass. Important American examples from that time include: Barth's Lost in the Funhouse, Coover's The Babysitter and The Magic Poker, Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, and Gass's Willie Master's Lonesome Wife.

Contents

Related

experimental fiction - fabulation - fourth wall - metafilm - postmodern literature - self-consciousness - self-referentiality


Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921)

Six Characters in Search of an Author

Theory

Robert Scholes


Various devices of metafiction

Some common metafictive devices include:

Contemporary author Paul Auster has made metafiction the central focus of his writing and is probably the best known active novelist specialising in the genre.

Metafiction may figure for only a moment in a story, as when "Roger" makes a brief appearance in Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber, or it may be central to the work, as in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.

Metafiction is a device heavily involved in postmodernist literature. Examples such as If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, "a novel about a person reading a novel" as above, can be seen as exercises in metafiction.

According to Paul de Man all fiction is metafictional, since all works of literature are concerned with language and literature itself.

Some elements of metafiction are similar to devices used in metafilm techniques.

Movies

Charlie Kaufman is a screenwriter who often uses this narrative technique. In the film Adaptation, his character Charlie Kaufman (played by Nicolas Cage) tortuously attempts to write a screenplay adapted from the book The Orchid Thief, only to come to the realization that such an adaptation is impossible. Many plot devices used throughout the film are verbalized by Kaufman as he develops a screenplay, and the screenplay which eventually results is Adaptation itself.

Some more examples of metafiction:

See also

Bibliography


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