Hypostasis (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''hypo-'' "below" + ''stasis'' "standing") is the essence of

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 ...

, a rare, literary moment when characters in fiction become aware of their own fictional nature.

Debut

The debut of hypostasis in literature occurs in ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'', Part 2, Chapter 2, when Sancho announces to Don Quixote that a book has been written about their adventures. Thus, these literary characters become aware that they are literary characters. This scene so impressed

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

that he devoted one of his most famous essays to it: ''Partial Enchantments in the Quixote.'''"

Modern use

In Disney's 1977 animated movie, ''

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is a 1977 American animated musical anthology comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It is the 22nd Disney animated feature film and was first r ...

'', Tigger bounces himself to the top of a tree and is then afraid to climb down. This image of Tigger in the treetop is revealed to the viewer to be merely an illustration in a book when Sebastian Cabot, the movie's narrator, says, "Well Tigger, your bouncing really got you into trouble this time." Tigger, surrounded by the words of the story on the page around him, looks directly into the camera and says, "Say, who are you?" "I'm the narrator," answers Cabot. "Well please, for goodness' sakes, narrate me down from here!" pleads Tigger. Cartoonist Bill Watterson of ''

Calvin and Hobbes ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly cited as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin and Hobbes'' has enjoyed ...

'' bridges into hypostasis in 1992 when Calvin, a cartoon, draws a cartoon of himself and then criticizes his own lack of ability to draw. A notable excursion into hypostasis is featured in Tom Stoppard's screenplay for the 1990 movie, ''

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's ''Hamle ...

'', in which two minor characters from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' wrestle with the growing realization that they are undifferentiated minor characters in a work of fiction.

Notes

Literary concepts {{lit-stub

Debut

Modern use

See also

Notes