Metalepsis

Metalepsis is a figure of speech and narrative technique in which the boundaries between levels of discourse or narrative are crossed. In its broad sense, a moment of metalepsis transgresses the supposed separation between the story world and the outside world, or between different layers of narration. The term was popularized by the French narratologist Gérard Genette, who used it to describe instances where a discourse intrudes into or escapes from the diegesis (the fictional world) in ways that blur or collapse narrative levels.

Metalepsis can take several forms. Extradiegetic metalepsis occurs when the external narrator or a level outside the story speaks directly to the reader or otherwise references the reader’s presence. Intradiagetic metalepsis involves a crossing within the story, such as a character becoming aware of the narrator or of being part of a story about itself. More broadly, metaleptic moment often appears as self-reflexive or self-referential commentary that calls attention to the fictionality of the work, or as a character addressing the author, the book, or the audience.

Commonly cited examples include direct address to the reader, a narrator stepping into the narrative to speak as a character, or a character breaking the fourth wall. Metalepsis is used in literature, theater, film, and comics to create reflexivity, parody, or to destabilize assumptions of realism and immersion. It remains a key concept in discussions of metafiction and narrative technique.