metafiction

Metafiction is a form of fiction that self-consciously foregrounds its status as a fictional construct. Works in this mode draw attention to the act of storytelling, often by exposing the artificiality of narration, the presence of an author or narrator, or the reader’s role in interpretation. Metafiction tends to blur boundaries between fiction and reality and may challenge conventional assumptions about plot, character, and genre.

Common devices include direct address to the reader, commentary on the writing process, frame narratives that house a story within a story, self-referential narration, and deliberate interruptions or interruptions of illusion. Footnotes, multiple or shifting narrators, and intertextual play are also frequently employed. These techniques can create a sense of play, irony, or critical distance, inviting readers to question how stories are constructed and what counts as “truth” in fiction.

Historically, metafiction is often associated with postmodern literature, but its roots go further back. Early precursors include Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which acknowledges fictionality within the tale, and Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, which interrupts narrative flow. In the 20th century, writers such as James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, Italo Calvino, and John Fowles expanded metafictional technique, using self-awareness to explore language, authorship, and reader complicity.

Examples frequently cited include Nabokov’s Pale Fire, Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler, Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, and Fowles’ The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Metafiction remains a notable approach for examining how stories are made and how readers interact with them.