What Is Metafiction? Definition, Examples, & How To Write It

What is metafiction? Learn the definition, explore key types of metafiction, see clear examples, and discover how to write stories that break traditional storytelling rules.

What Is Metafiction?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, metafiction is ‘fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions and traditional narrative techniques.’

Metafiction is fiction about fiction. It means the reader reads the story while the process of writing is being discussed or described by the characters or narrator. The characters know they are in a fictional story, or the author reminds the reader that what they’re reading isn’t real.

Metafiction departs from normal narrative conventions. In normal fiction, the reader reads a book without interference from the author or characters. They are immersed in the story. In metafiction, a self-aware narrator comments on the fiction itself.

So, metafiction is fiction that knows it’s fiction. It’s a self-aware form. It is as if the narrator winks at you while telling the story. It explores the relationship between literature and reality, art and life.

Note: Metafiction isn’t a genre. It’s a technique, or a literary device. It occurs in any genre, including literary fiction, science fiction, satire, fantasy, historical fiction, and even in a memoir.

(The term ‘metafiction’ was coined in 1970 by William H. Gass in his book Fiction and the Figures of Life. Gass describes the increasing use of metafiction at the time as a result of authors developing a better understanding of the medium.)

Common Features Of Metafiction

1. Breaking the fourth wall: This means breaking down the barrier between the writer and the reader. It blurs the lines between reality and fiction. The reader is addressed by the narrator who is questioning their own story.
2. Dual reality: To show the dual reality of the novel’s fictional world and the real world. It is used to thwart reader’s expectations of traditional storytelling.
3. Parody: Metafiction is used to parody conventions in literature genres, including questioning the use of tropes and other literary devices.
4. Self-reflection: Authors reflect on their own writing process. They take the audience’s attention away from the story and let them question the content of the text itself.
5. The human condition: By looking behind the story, metafiction is used to reveal hidden truths and explore different facets of the human condition.
6. Fictional roles: Metafiction experiments with the role of the narrator and their relationship to the fictional characters in the story.

Why Do We Use Metafiction?

Metafiction deliberately exposes a work as artificial to make readers think critically about the nature of fiction, reality, and authorship. It turns passive readers into active participants. It asks us to think about the nature of reality that is constructed through narratives. It makes us see the world differently. It explores this with irony and humour.

7 Types Of Metafiction (According to David Griffin Brown from The Darling Axe)

1. Direct Address

‘This is when the narrator or text speaks directly to the reader. The illusion that the story exists in its own world collapses. You, the reader, are now part of the exchange.’

2. The Found Manuscript

‘This technique presents the novel as a document discovered or compiled by someone else. It builds a fiction around the fiction, giving it an extra layer of artifice.’

3. Authorial Intrusion

‘This is when the author steps into the narration, often to comment on the plot, characters, or structure. It collapses the boundary between creator and creation.’

4. Commentary On Narrative Conventions Or Fictionality

‘This involves pointing out or mocking the storytelling process itself. The narrator or text may call out tropes, genres, or structural choices.’

5. Intertextuality And Allusions

‘Metafiction often references other stories—real or invented. It creates a web of texts that highlight the artifice of fiction.’

6. Self-Aware Or Destabilizing Narrators

‘Not all unreliable narrators are metafictional. To qualify, the narrator must reflect on their own role as a fictional construct or draw attention to storytelling as a process.’

7. Typographical And Formal Play

‘This includes visual experimentation, unconventional structure, or a disruption of the book’s physical format. It draws attention to the materiality of the novel.’

Examples Of Metafiction

1. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: This anthology of stories parodies the conventional elements of fiction. Chaucer regularly breaks the fourth wall to address the audience directly and apologise for any offense the narrative may cause.
2. One For the Morning Glory by John Barnes: The characters know that they are in a fairy tale. The book is also the second part of a three book series whose first and third parts are not yet written.
3. Moby Dick by Herman Melville: The narrator famously begins with, ‘Call me Ishmael.’ The reader is involved from the first line. The narrator speaks directly to us throughout, reminding us that he’s telling a tale, choosing what to include (and what to leave out), and reflecting on the act of narration itself.
4. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote is essentially a book about books. In the prologue, Cervantes breaks the fourth wall by commenting on his process of writing the book, in which he urges the reader to make up their own mind about the written text.
5. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino: The novel begins with the line, ‘You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel.’ From the start, the reader is a character. The book keeps restarting, reflecting on what it means to read and to write.
6. Mulligan Stew by Gilbert Sorrentino: The book portrays the author as a character surrounded by other writers who were aware they were characters in that novel. It is an examination of the creative process of writing a novel and its failing.
7. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles: This is a historical novel about a love story between a gentleman and a governess in the Victorian era. The book features a narrator who becomes part of the story and offers several different ways to end the story.
8. The Princess Bride by William Goldman: The novel is presented as an abridgement of a fictional work by S. Morgenstern, complete with commentary. It layers a fairytale with an invented editor who abridges, interrupts, and comments on the ‘original’ text.
9. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: The narrator includes his own voice as a character in this non-linear narrative. He interrupts the story to talk about writing the book, often stating ‘I was there’ and addressing the struggle of capturing the narrative.
10. Deadpool from Marvel comics and film: This is pure metafiction. Deadpool is in a story and comments on it constantly, mocking superhero clichés and narrative logic.
11. Life Of Pi by Yann Martel: The narrator offers two versions of the same story and asks the reader to choose which one is ‘real’.
12. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski: The author uses typographical metafictional tools effectively. He uses footnotes, shifting fonts, and unconventional page layouts to show the story of the multiple narrators who each have different textual spaces.
13. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco: The book is framed as a translation of a long-lost manuscript. The narrator claims to have pieced it together from fragments.
14. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: In this science fiction novel, the characters refer to a book called The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. All throughout the story, the author reminds the audience that they’re reading a fictional work.
15. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys: The author imagines and writes from the perspective of the madwoman, Bertha Mason, in Rochester’s attic, making it a commentary on Jane Eyre, its characters, and even on the author of the first novel herself.

Click here for a comprehensive list of metafictional titles.

What Is Not Metafiction?

1. An intrusive narrator, but the story doesn’t ask the reader to interrogate storytelling as a construct. (A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak)
2. A story with an unreliable narrator who does not comment on the storytelling format (Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk).
3. A novel with interesting structures, like PowerPoint presentations, that does not comment on the storytelling itself (A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan).
4. An epistolary novel that uses diary entries or letters to give a realistic feeling (Dracula by Bram Stoker, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley).
5. A parody of genre conventions that doesn’t question the genre. (Scary Movie)
6. A frame narrative that doesn’t draw attention to the fact that it is creating a story within a story (Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Forrest Gump).

Metafiction requires that the characters or author address the reader about the format of the story. It’s not just a weird structure or a direct address. It’s a deliberate move to make the story about the story, to make the characters aware they are part of the story, to ask readers to play a role in the story.

How To Write Metafiction

1. Read Metafiction: The best way to learn how to use a literary device is to read a lot of fiction that employs it. So, do start by reading some of the books listed above.
2. Break The Fourth Wall: Address the reader directly, telling them they are holding a fictional work.
3. Use Author Intrusion: Have the narrator or author step into the story to comment on the writing process, plot choices, or to critique the characters.
4. Employ Self-Reflective Narrators: Create characters who know they are in a story, perhaps questioning their lack of free will or discussing their character arcs. Start early by showing the narrator is aware of the text, perhaps by commenting on the opening line.
5. Write Stories Within Stories: Write a story where characters read, write, or tell other stories, blurring the lines of reality.
6. Use Experimental Structures: Use non-linear timelines, fake footnotes, indices, fonts, or unusual formatting to emphasize the book as a physical object. Rewrite the narrative in the same story.
7. Employ Intertextuality & Parody: Make references to other literary works or make fun of genre conventions.
8. Choose A Narrative Convention To Subvert: Choose a standard trope (the hero’s journey, the love interest) to break or question.
9. Include Meta-Commentary: Have characters discuss the plot. Let them complain about plot holes or argue with the author. They can tell the reader that certain parts of the story have been exaggerated or made up.
10. Offer Multiple Endings: Let the characters or the reader choose from several resolutions to show the artificiality of only one true ending
11. Use Humour And Irony: Employ satire to make the artificial nature of the story entertaining rather than just confusing.
12. Balance Technique With Story: Ensure the metafictional elements serve the story rather than just being a gimmick.

The Last Word

We defined metafiction, including its features. We told you why we write metafiction, and what the types of metafiction are – including examples. And most importantly, we gave you tips on how to write metafiction. If you want to experiment, try this literary device in your own writing.

Source for image: Pixabay