Postmodern Theories and Texts
Theories of Metafiction
 
Las Meninas
Definitions
Metafiction is a 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.  In providing a critique of their own methods of construction, such writings not only examine the fundamental structures of narrative fiction, they also explore the possible fictionality of the world outside the literary fictional text.  (Waugh 2).

Spectrum:  Metafiction is thus an elastic term which cover a wide range of fictions.  There are those novels at one end of the spectrum which take    fictionality as a  theme to be explored . .. whose formal self-consciousness is limited.  At the center of this spectrum are those texts that manifest the symptoms of formal and ontological insecurity but allow their deconstructions to be finally recontextualized or 'naturalized' and given a total  interpretation . . .Finally, at the furthest extreme that, in rejecting realism more thoroughly, posit the world as a fabrication of competing semiotic systems which never correspond to material conditions, ...(Waugh 18-19)

Relevant terms:

Surfiction:Raymond Federman's book of that name discusses the  mode in terms of overt narratorial intrusion so that, as in the  'self-begetting novel', the focus appears to be on the ironist him/herself  rather than on the overt and covert levels of the ironic text.  Telling as individual invention, spontaneous fabrication at the expense of  external reality  or literary tradition, is  emphasized rather than . . . metafiction's  continuous involvement in -- and meditation of -- reality through linguistic structures and  preexistent texts.

General Issues and Signs of Metafiction

(These issues are, of course, overlapping with each other.)
Issues 1: fiction and reality
Signs and Examples
  • reality is no longer understandable; history is just fiction (or constructions)
 --over-plotting to show mysteries in "history" or its multiple interpretations;
--under-plotting, presenting the disfunctioning of language/communication or language games
--typographical marks and the black page in Tristram Shandy
--labyrinth in "Lost in the Funhouse" 
--Pale Fire
--Illustrations in Breakfast of Champion and Slaughterhouse-V
  • the paradoxical status of author--power or no power 
 --the appearance of the author in The French Lieutenant's Woman  as a peck of  dust to be brushed off by Charles
--the god-game in The Magus
--Vonnegut in Dresden in Slaughterhouse-V
--the characters out of the author's control
--the conflict (or struggle for power) between reader and author in Stephen King's Mystery and Rushdie's Midnight's Children
  • foregrounding the fiction of fiction and  reality
 --the juxtaposition of  fictional characters and historical figures
--discussion of  writing techniques, inclusion in the text of "external" elements of the text such as  "preface," author, editor and advertisement. 
--the use of frames
  • intertextuality 
 --parody of realist texts or official history in Midnight's Children
--Tristram Shandy and Tin Drum as intertexts in Midnight's Children
Examples of Films--to be completed
Issues 1: fiction and reality
Signs and Examples
  • reality is no longer understandable; history is just fiction (or constructions)
 --over-plotting --Forrest Gump (overuse of coincidences and miracles); 
Stuntman (acting/conspiracies as life, life as acting/conspiracies) 
--under-plotting, 
--Drowning by Numbers
--labyrinth in "Lost in the Funhouse" 
--Pale Fire
--Illustrations in Breakfast of Champion and Slaughterhouse-V
  • the paradoxical status of author--power or no power 
 --the appearance of the director in Icicle Thief, Woody  Allen's films,  ­¸«Lªü¹F¡A¨¿¬Â¥É
--the god-game in Stuntman
  • foregrounding the fiction of fiction and  reality
 --the juxtaposition of  fictional characters and historical figures Forrest Gump
--discussion of  filmic techniques, inclusion in the text of "external" elements of the text such as  studio, author, reviewers and advertisement. Icicle Thief
--the use of frames
  • intertextuality 
 --parody -- Icicle Thief
-- pastiche --  Hot Shot; David Lynch's Wild at Heart and Blue Velvet

Reference:

Waugh, Patricia.   Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction. NY: Routledge, 1984.¡@¡@¡@