Meanings
plural metafictions
- uncountableusuallyA form of self-referential literature concerned with the art and devices of fiction itself.
In the previous chapter, I presented a heuristic explanation of the development of metafiction. In this chapter, I turn to some texts written before the 1980s to demonstrate that the binary between realism and metafiction is not fixed.
2010, Evan Mwangi, Africa Writes Back to Self: Metafiction, Gender, Sexuality, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 651 more example
Julian Barnes's Flaubert's Parrot (1984) and Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor and Chatterton may be described as accomplished examples of historiographic metafiction, the kind of self-conscious, heavily parodic and experimental historical […]
1999, Susana Onega Jaén, Metafiction and Myth in the Novels of Peter Ackroyd, Camden House, →ISBN, page 1
Origin
From meta- + fiction, coined in 1970 by William H. Gass
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan metaficció
- metaficcióform of self-referential literature
Czech metafikce
- metafikceform of self-referential literature
Esperanto metafikcio
- metafikcioform of self-referential literature
Finnish metafiktio
- metafiktioform of self-referential literature
French métafiction
- métafictionform of self-referential literature
German Metafiktion
- Metafiktionform of self-referential literature
Greek μεταμυθοπλασία
- μεταμυθοπλασία (metamythoplasía)form of self-referential literature
Korean 메타픽션
- 메타픽션 (metapiksyeon)form of self-referential literature
Polish metafikcja
- metafikcjaform of self-referential literature
Portuguese metaficção
- metaficçãoform of self-referential literature
Romanian metaficțiune
- metaficțiuneform of self-referential literature
Russian мѐтапро́за
- мѐтапро́за (mètapróza)form of self-referential literature
Spanish metaficción
- metaficciónform of self-referential literature
Vietnamese siêu hư cấu
- siêu hư cấuform of self-referential literature
Cite this entry
metafiction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/metafiction
“metafiction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/metafiction. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “metafiction,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/metafiction.
Source: metafiction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.