A Definition of Metafiction - Writing Styles & Postmodernism

Metafiction is a style of writing that uses the act of writing as subject. A metafiction story might feature the author as a character. A metafiction story might set as its conflict an attempt to get the story published - the same story that is being read. In metafiction, the craft, the intricacies, and the sources of writing are put on display.

Related to post-modern theater, metafiction is a literature that punches through the proverbial fourth wall and says to the audience, "Here I am. I'm a piece of writing. This is what writing looks like. It looks like me. Here I am."

Put in another way, metafiction is fiction that brings attention directly to the act of writing.

Is metafiction new?

No. If we consider metafiction to be inclusive of any fiction that uses writing as its subject, then it has been around for quite a long time. Wikipedia cites One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) as a very early example of metafiction because the book directly considers the act and power of story telling.

What is special about metafiction?

The relationships between creator and created, reality and fantasy, between fiction and truth are all open to exposition in meta-fiction. This is a rather rich subject for reflection and even philosophy and so makes meta-fiction an approach ripe with potential and with depth.

Is metafiction a genre?

We can't exactly call this type of writing a genre as it is subject/interest description as much as it is a technique or method. We wouldn't call fictional stories with an interest in boats a genre of writing in the same way we call "mystery" fiction or "young adult" fiction genres.

Specifically, what are the criteria for a book of fiction to be considered metafiction?

Not surprisingly, there is no satisfying criteria for metafiction. If a book contains an element of "fiction within fiction", such as a story told within a frame story or larger narrative structure, it can be considered as metafiction. The occurence of stories within stories is about as common as finding oxygen in the air. However, a reasonable narrowing of the parameters has metafiction defined as fiction that purposefully draws attention to its own nature (ie., fiction ie., "made-up" writing).

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Due to the flexibility or porous quality of the definition of metafiction, the style leaves itself open to many questions. If it is so flexible as to allow nearly any work of fiction to be referred to as metafiction, then what is the meaning of the term metafiction, really?
Therefore we are led to ask: should we construct a more rigorous set of criteria for metafiction?

What is your opinion?