METAFICTION, METATEXT, AND METANARRATION: A DISCURSIVE RE-EXAMINATION IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH LITERATURE

Abstract

 Metafiction has long been recognized as a defining feature of postmodern and contemporary English literature; however, its frequent conflation with related concepts such as metatext and metanarration has led to theoretical ambiguity and methodological inconsistency. This article offers a discursive re-examination of metafiction, metatext, and metanarration as distinct yet interrelated narrative phenomena. Drawing on discourse analysis and narratological theory, the study reconceptualizes these terms as discursive strategies rather than merely formal devices. Through close textual analysis of selected contemporary English novels, the article demonstrates how metafiction operates as an overarching discursive mode, while metatext and metanarration function as embedded textual mechanisms that mediate authorial presence, reader positioning, and narrative self-awareness. The findings contribute to a clearer terminological differentiation and propose a discourse-based framework for analyzing self-reflexive fiction in contemporary literary studies.