Metareferentiality
Metareferentiality is the property of referring to the act of reference itself, or to language, representation, or discourse at a higher level than the object of reference. It occurs when expressions not only denote entities but also comment on how they refer, how referents are identified, or how language produces meaning. Metareferentiality can thus function as a form of self-reference at the meta level, and it spans linguistics, philosophy, and literature.
In linguistics, metareferentiality appears when utterances or terms explicitly discuss reference processes. For example, "This word
In philosophy and logic, metareferentiality relates to statements about truth, reference, and meaning. It is central
In literature and media, metareferentiality is a common device in metafiction and self-referential works. Authors may
See also: self-reference, meta-language, metafiction, reflexivity.