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List Of Metafictional Works
This is a partial list of works that use metafictional ideas. Metafiction is intentional allusion or reference to a work's fictional nature. It is commonly used for humorous or parodic effect, and has appeared in a wide range of mediums, including writing, film, theatre, and video gaming. Novels, novellas and short stories Pre-20th century works * Ludovico Ariosto, ''Orlando Furioso'' * Jane Austen, ''Northanger Abbey'' *Jane Austen, ''Mansfield Park'' *Thomas Carlyle, ''Sartor Resartus'' * Miguel de Cervantes, ''Don Quixote'' * Margaret Cavendish, ''The Blazing World'' * Geoffrey Chaucer, ''The Canterbury Tales'' * Denis Diderot, ''Jacques the Fatalist'' * Henry Fielding, ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' * James Hogg, ''The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner'' * Laurence Sterne, ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' * William Makepeace Thackeray, '' Vanity Fair'' * Machado de Assis, ''The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas'' *''The Pl ...
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Metafiction
Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story-telling, and works of metafiction directly or indirectly draw attention to their status as artifacts. Metafiction is frequently used as a form of parody or a tool to undermine literary conventions and explore the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art. Although metafiction is most commonly associated with postmodern literature that developed in the mid-20th century, its use can be traced back to much earlier works of fiction, such as ''The Canterbury Tales'' (Geoffrey Chaucer, 1387), ''Don Quixote'' (Miguel de Cervantes, 1605), ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' (Laurence Sterne, 1759), and '' Vanity Fair'' (William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847). Metafiction became particularly prominent in the 1960 ...
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The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling
''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', often known simply as ''Tom Jones'', is a comic novel by English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. It is a ''Bildungsroman'' and a picaresque novel. It was first published on 28 February 1749 in London and is among the earliest English works to be classified as a novel. It is the earliest novel mentioned by W. Somerset Maugham in his 1948 book '' Great Novelists and Their Novels'' among the ten best novels of the world. The novel is highly organised despite its length. Samuel Taylor Coleridge argued that it has one of the "three most perfect plots ever planned", alongside ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' and ''The Alchemist''. It became a best seller with four editions published in its first year alone. It is generally regarded as Fielding's greatest book and as an influential English novel. Plot The novel's events occupy eighteen books. It opens with the narrator stating that the purpose of the novel will be to explore "human nature". The k ...
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Ki No Tsurayuki
was a Japanese author, poet and court noble of the Heian period. He is best known as the principal compiler of the ''Kokin Wakashū'', also writing its Japanese Preface, and as a possible author of the ''Tosa Diary'', although this was published anonymously. He is well known for his ''waka'' poetry and is counted as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals selected by Fujiwara no Kintō; his poetry was included also in the ''Hyakunin Isshu''. As a courtier, he served as Governor of Tosa (930-935), Vice Governor of Kaga (917-923) and Vice Governor of Mino Province (918-923). Biography Tsurayuki was born in either 866 or 872, the son of Ki no Mochiyuki and a court dancer of the ''naikyoubou'' (内教坊), whose name is unknown. He had the childhood name of Akokuso (阿古久曽). In the 890s he became a poet of ''waka'', short poems composed in Japanese. In 905, under the order of Emperor Daigo, he was one of four poets selected to compile the ''Kokin Wakashū (Kokinshu)'', t ...
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Zhuangzi (book)
The ''Zhuangzi'' (Chinese: , historically romanized ''Chuang Tzŭ'') is an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period (476221) which contains stories and anecdotes that exemplify the carefree nature of the ideal Taoist sage. Named for its traditional author, "Master Zhuang" (Zhuangzi), the ''Zhuangzi'' is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, along with the ''Tao Te Ching''. The ''Zhuangzi'' consists of a large collection of anecdotes, allegories, parables, and fables, which are often humorous or irreverent. Its main themes are of spontaneity in action and of freedom from the human world and its conventions. The fables and anecdotes in the text attempt to illustrate the falseness of human distinctions between good and bad, large and small, life and death, and human and nature. While other ancient Chinese philosophers focused on moral and personal duty, Zhuangzi promoted carefree wandering and becoming one with "the Way" (''Dào'' ) by following nature. T ...
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Dream Of The Red Chamber
''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known for its psychological scope, and its observation of the worldview, aesthetics, life-styles, and social relations of 18th-century China. The intricate strands of its plot depict the rise and decline of a family much like Cao’s own and, by extension, of the dynasty itself. Cao depicts the power of the father over the family, but the novel is intended to be a memorial to the women he knew in his youth: friends, relatives and servants. At a more profound level, the author explores religious and philosophical questions, and the writing style includes echoes of the plays and novels of the late Ming, as well as poetry from earlier periods. Cao apparently began composing it in the 1740s and worked on it until his death in 1763 or 1764. Copies of hi ...
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Cao Xueqin
Cáo Xuěqín ( ; ); (4 April 1710 — 10 June 1765)Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. His given name was Cáo Zhān () and his courtesy name was Mèngruǎn (). Family Cao Xueqin was born to a Han Chinese clan that was brought into personal service (as ''booi aha'' or bondservants of Cigu Niru) to the Manchu royalty in the late 1610s. His ancestors distinguished themselves through military service in the Plain White Banner () of the Eight Banners and subsequently held posts as officials which brought both prestige and wealth. After the Plain White Banner was put under the direct jurisdiction of the Qing emperor, Cao's family began to serve in civil positions of the Imperial Household Department. During the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the clan's prestige and power reached its height ...
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The Plum In The Golden Vase
''Jin Ping Mei'' () — translated into English as ''The Plum in the Golden Vase'' or ''The Golden Lotus'' — is a Chinese novel of manners composed in vernacular Chinese during the latter half of the 16th century during the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Consisted of 100 chapters, it was published under the pseudonym Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng (), "The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling," but the only clue to the actual identity is that the author hailed from Lanling County in present-day Shandong.Lu (1923) p.408 The novel circulated in manuscript as early as 1596, and may have undergone revision up to its first printed edition in 1610. The most widely read recension, edited and published with commentaries by Zhang Zhupo in 1695, deleted or rewrote passages important in understanding the author's intentions. The explicit depiction of sexuality garnered the novel a notoriety akin to ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' and ''Lolita'' in English literature, but critics such as the translator Davi ...
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The Posthumous Memoirs Of Brás Cubas
''The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas'' ( pt, Memorias Posthumas de Braz Cubas, modern spelling ''Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas''), also translated as ''Epitaph of a Small Winner'', is a novel by the Brazilian writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (born in Rio de Janeiro City, then Imperial Capital of Brazil). Published in 1881, the novel has a unique style of short, erratic chapters shifting in tone and style. Instead of the clear and logical construction of a normal nineteenth-century realist novel, the novel makes use of surreal devices of metaphor and playful narrative construction. It is considered the first novel of the realist movement in Brazil. Outline The novel is narrated by the dead protagonist Brás Cubas, who tells his own life story from beyond the grave, noting his mistakes and failed romances. The fact of being already deceased allows Brás Cubas to sharply criticize the Brazilian society and reflect on his own disillusionment, with no sign of remorse ...
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Machado De Assis
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (), often known by his surnames as Machado de Assis, ''Machado,'' or ''Bruxo do Cosme Velho''Vainfas, p. 505. (21 June 1839 – 29 September 1908), was a pioneer Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer, widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature. Nevertheless, Assis did not achieve widespread popularity outside Brazil during his lifetime. In 1897 he founded and became the first President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He was multilingual, having taught himself French, English, German and Greek in later life. Born in Morro do Livramento, Rio de Janeiro from a poor family, he was the grandson of freed slaves in a country where slavery would not be fully abolished until 49 years later. He barely studied in public schools and never attended university. With only his own intellect to rely on, and largely self-taught, he struggled to rise socially. To do so, he took several public positions, passing through ...
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Vanity Fair (novel)
Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in ''The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the title of several magazines including: ** ''Vanity Fair'' (British magazine), 1868–1914 ** ''Vanity Fair'' (American magazine 1913–1936) ** ''Vanity Fair'' (magazine), 1983–present Film * ''Vanity Fair'' (1911 film), directed by Charles Kent * ''Vanity Fair'' (1915 film), a silent film directed by Charles Brabin and made by the Edison Company * ''Vanity Fair'' (1922 film), a silent British film directed by Walter Courtney Rowden * ''Vanity Fair'' (1923 film), a lost silent feature film directed by Hugo Ballin and produced by Samuel Goldwyn, with Prizmacolor sequence * ''Vanity Fair'' (1932 film), directed by Chester M. Franklin and starring Myrna Loy, with the story updated to make Becky Sharp a social-climbing governess * ''V ...
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William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'', which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick. Biography Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, British India, where his father, Richmond Thackeray (1 September 1781 – 13 September 1815), was secretary to the Board of Revenue in the East India Company. His mother, Anne Becher (1792–1864), was the second daughter of Harriet Becher and John Harman Becher, who was also a secretary (writer) for the East India Company. His father was a grandson of Thomas Thackeray (1693–1760), headmaster of Harrow School."THACKE ...
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The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', also known as ''Tristram Shandy'', is a novel by Laurence Sterne, inspired by ''Don Quixote''. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next seven years (vols. 3 and 4, 1761; vols. 5 and 6, 1762; vols. 7 and 8, 1765; vol. 9, 1767). It purports to be a biography of the eponymous character. Its style is marked by digression, double entendre, and graphic devices. The first edition was printed by Ann Ward (printer), Ann Ward on Coney Street, York. Sterne had read widely, which is reflected in ''Tristram Shandy''. Many of his similes, for instance, are reminiscent of the works of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century, and the novel as a whole, with its focus on the problems of language, has constant regard for John Locke's theories in ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding''. Arthur Schopenhauer called ''Tristram Shandy'' one of "the four immortal romances."A ...
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