METAFICTION UTN FRVM Literary Studies Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa Lic. Mariana Mussetta Literary Studies Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa UTN FRVM Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Las Meninas Diego Velazquez 1656 Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Escaping Criticism Pere Borrell del Caso 1874 Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Attempts to define metafiction “Metafiction is 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.” (Patricia Waugh) Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Attempts to define metafiction “The simple notion that language passively reflects a coherent, meaningful and objective world is no longer tenable.  Language is an independent, self-contained system which generates its own 'meanings.”  (Patricia Waugh) Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Attempts to define metafiction “Metafiction is a borderline discourse, a kind of writing which places itself on the border between fiction and criticism, which takes the border as its subject." (Mark Currie) Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Attempts to define metafiction “A metafictional novel is a novel that imitates a novel rather than the real world.” (John Barth) Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Attempts to define metafiction “Metafiction is self-conscious, introspective, introverted, narcissistic or auto-representational.” (Mark Currie) Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Attempts to define metafiction “Metafiction is a combination of experimental writing with existential questioning.” (Robert Scholes) Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Metafiction is characterized by: Fictionality of the world outside the text Emphasis on the writing being a creation, a construction, not the representation or the imitation of reality Foregrounding of the instability of fictional worlds leading to an instability of the so-called “real life” Reconstruction of myths/ old stories Mirror-theme: Reflection/ imitation/ delusion Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Translation questioning the unreliability of the narrator/ translator Stress on the playfulness of language Use of fictional references and allusions to examine fictional systems Literary criticism (self-critical tendency) Art about art, fiction about fiction about fiction Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Irony, parody and criticism Reflection on the functions and construction of writing, reading, rewriting, rereading, and interpreting Discussion of fictional works of an imaginary character Creation of biographies of imaginary writers Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Rejection of a traditional plot Experimental techniques and violation of narrative levels (frame breaking) Rejection of a traditional plot Foregrounding of the instability of fictional worlds Blurring and mixing of different ontological levels Graphic experimentation Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Use of fictional references and allusions in order to: Examine fictional systems Reinforce the idea that a text is being created Take a theoretical and critical position Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Some metafictional writers: Miguel de Unamuno Jorge Luis Borges Julio Cortazar Isaac Asimov John Barth A. S. Byatt Italo Calvino J. M. Coetzee Umberto Eco John Fowles John Irving Doris Lessing Vladimir Nabokov Salman Rushdie José Saramago Paul Auster Kurt Vonnegut Thomas Pynchon Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.

Other terms for contemporary metafiction: Surfiction (Federman) Critifiction (Federman) Antifiction Fabulation (Scholes) Neo-baroque fiction Post-modernist fiction Introverted novel Irrealism Self-begetting novel Experimental writing Historiographic metafiction Lic. Mariana Mussetta. Literary Studies. UTN. Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa.