Meanings
plural metahistorical romances
- countableuncountableA type of postmodern historical fiction.
Through the “historiographic metafiction” or “metahistorical romance” of post-1960s fiction, critics have identified the self-reflexive quality of the new historical aesthetics.
2017, Alison Shonkwiler, The Financial Imaginary: Economic Mystification and the Limits of Realist Fiction, University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN1 more example
From Linda Hutcheon's work on historiographic metafiction to Amy Elias's study of the metahistorical romance, addressing the historical novel, for example, has become something of a minor industry outside conventional history.
2010, Alun Munslow, The Future of History, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 267
Origin
Coined by Amy J. Elias in 2001.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
metahistorical romance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/metahistorical%20romance
“metahistorical romance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/metahistorical%20romance. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “metahistorical romance,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/metahistorical%20romance.
Source: metahistorical romance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.