1. fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, often breaking the fourth wall or commenting on its own fictional nature
Usage: literary

Examples

• The novel is a work of metafiction that frequently reminds readers they are reading a story.
• Her metafiction explores the relationship between author, narrator, and reader.
• The character suddenly addresses the audience directly, a classic metafiction technique.
• Many postmodern writers experimented with metafiction in the 1960s and 1970s.
• The book’s metafiction elements include footnotes that question the story’s authenticity.
• Critics praised the author’s clever use of metafiction to examine storytelling itself.