Abstract
This article reviews the controversies surrounding “metalepsis,” and attempts to propose a relatively more inclusive definition, which takes into account the nature, scope, degree and effect of metalepsis, reality and fictionality, authorial intention and reader interpretation, as well as the characteristics of different media, etc. Metalepsis exists not only within textual boundaries but may also occur in the connections between the text and the real-world author, reader, and context. Furthermore, it transcends narrative levels to encompass different representational worlds, story worlds, real-world contexts, and discursive worlds. By engaging with unnatural narrative theory, this paper further explores the issues of “natural metalepsis” and “unnatural metalepsis,” which have not yet to receive sufficient scholarly attention.
Keywords
metalepsis, Gérard Genette, natural metalepsis, unnatural metalepsis
First Page
45
Last Page
54
Recommended Citation
Wang, Changcai. 2025. "Reexamining “Metalepsis”: The Natural and the Unnatural." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (2): pp.45-54. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss2/5
