The Metafiction Database

On this site you will find a collection of works of metafiction. See below for more information or get started by exploring the database or contributing an entry.


ENTER THE DATABASE


SUBMIT AN ENTRY


What is the Database?

The Metafiction Database seeks to collect, as best as possible, an exhaustive list of metafictional works for the use of scholars, students, and general readers. This resource will help anyone who wishes to explore the genre and expand their understanding of the metafictional practice and its various forms. It also provides a single resource for researchers to find a filterable collection of metafiction by a variety of criteria, related to both work and author.


The Metafiction Database is open to submissions through external contributors, such as students or researchers. While the Database seeks to provide an exhaustive record, the works listed have been compiled by individuals and as such there are inevitable gaps in the record. Please help to close those gaps through your own contributions. As the list of metafiction texts and authors continues to develop, anyone interested in metafiction can contribute to this research project.

What is Metafiction?

Metafiction is a broad category referring to any artistic media that alerts the reader, viewer, or listener, either implicitly or explicitly, to its fictional aspects. Metafiction has existed in different forms since antiquity, as we find it in writers such as Plato, Chaucer, and Shakespeare.


However, metafiction as a literary, critical, and cultural trend more dominantly hit the public sphere in the 20th century and has endured throughout the movements of modernism, postmodernism, and the contemporary era (however we may characterize it) as one of the most popular forms of art and media. Authors, directors, painters, and musicians from around the world have used metafiction for a variety of purposes, including to critique and defend their culture, politics, criticism, and art forms.


Submit an Entry

If you wish to submit an entry to the database, first make sure the item has not already been entered by searching the database for that item. If it does not appear in the results, you may submit it using the Google Form in the “Submit an Entry” page above. All submissions are subject to moderator approval. A moderator will contact you after your submission is reviewed to inform you of its acceptance or rejection. Once approved, your submission will appear on the database. There is no limit to submissions.

To submit an entry, you will need to enter the following: the title, a short description of the work and its metafictional properties, the item type, publication details including year and publisher, the type of metafiction, and information about the creator(s) including age, ethnic origin, and sexuality. Ensure you read each question thoroughly. Please refer to the Glossary page in the header for definitions of the categories of metafiction and all other terms used in the database.

Participants whose entries have been accepted can also opt to appear as contributors and receive credit for their entries, which in turn can be listed on a resume or CV. Contributors will be listed on their individual entries as well as on the Contributors page.