Theoretical Introduction
Marshall McLuhan writes that “in a culture like ours, long accustomed to splitting and dividing all things as a means of control, it is sometimes a bit of a shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is the message” (203). This mantra is oft repeated by scholars and critics alike, as we struggle to evaluate new ways of producing meaning in the digital age. Keeping this in mind, then, I am interested in investigating the impact that modality has on the transmission of a message. To this end, this project is an inquiry into the effects of two competing methods of distributing a very similar message – that of a man’s awareness of his own metafictional fate. Comparison between the two metafictional texts, the film Stranger Than Fiction and the novel Niebla (English Language: Mist ) by Miguel de Unamuno, from which it is rumored that the film draws inspiration, exposes some interesting ways in which different mediums allow for very different renderings and responses to similar messages. This project is an investigation into different modes of presenting and interpreting the theme of self-conscious fiction, and indeed is a self-conscious exploration of our own responses to these modes of discourse themselves.
The old rites of literature are quickly starting to come to a head, and as we move through the 21st century we will find ourselves staring into new modes of expression of literary concepts that we have known only on the printed page for centuries prior. Metafiction not only allows for new ways of approaching a narrative but also new ways of approaching literature in general. Questioning the boundaries between the reader and the writer, the audience and the performer, the characters in the book and the ones holding it, one might say that metafiction was one of the first forms of hypertext mediums in which the reader was encouraged to draw on outside influences and information to arrive at the heart of the text. This understanding of metafiction, then, makes it an appropriate place to begin an analysis of new modes of discourse and the variability of the messages presented. In such a textually-conscious style of writing, how does the narrative alter according to the mode of presentation while still retaining a questioning and awareness of the literary roots? Exploration of such fictional representations that bring to the forefront the act of writing allow for identification of several competing and differing aspects of metafictional works: the accessibility to the reader, the role of imagination and the uncertainty of the truth of its representations, a self-consciousness about language, the changing role of the author, and a sense of play about the work of writing and reading about the lives of others.
Several theorists inform a metafictional conversation to help explicate the issues associated with modes of presenting metafiction narratives. The form of metafiction invites interesting new approaches to texts and representations of texts, and encourages us to question several long-standing traditions of literary history. Barthes’ “Death of the Author” is an interesting article to use to approach these two primary texts, as the metafictional nature of the work is largely reliant upon the imagined life and death of both the author and the characters. Wolfgang Iser’s “Interaction Between Text and Reader” helps to inform an understanding of the reader’s response and responsibilities to this innovative form of literature. A more generalized approach to the topic of metafiction in multi-modal discourse is supported by McLuhan’s ideas of mediums and Lemke’s conceptions of “Metamedia Literacy”, while Mitchell furthers these discussions through an analysis of the role of pictures and images in our world. Irit Rogoff contributes to an understanding of the impact of multi-modality in the text, while Linda Hutcheon and Patricia Waugh help me to contextualize these specific primary texts in the realm of metatext as a whole. Through the use of these theorists, I hope to compare and contrast the modes of discussing themes of metaliterature, and in doing so begin a further discussion into how literary studies are changing and challenging our preconceived notions of authorship and audience.
Remember, however, that metafiction is one of the most playful forms of fiction in use today. It constantly encourages the reader to assess his or her own state of mind, involvement in the text, and relationship to the characters and authors. Come to this project with that same state of mind, and you may find yourself engaging in a meta reading today…