ABSTRACT
The term ‘metafiction’ is used to refer to fiction which self-consciously draws attention to its status as text and as fictive. Although the use of metafictive and experimental narrative forms in children’s fiction has received positive criticism, the genre can still generate resistance and scepticism. Metafiction tends to be defined in two main ways: as a distinctive sub-genre of the novel, defined in opposition to literary realism; or as an inherent tendency of the novelistic genre. The term intertextuality covers the range of literary and cultural texts, discourses, genres and conventions used to construct narrative fictions. There is a strong tradition of intrusive narrators who, by drawing attention to their storytelling function, seek to validate the status of their narrative as ‘truth’. M. Mackey argues that metafictive children’s texts can ‘foster an awareness of how a story works’ and implicitly teach readers how texts are structured through specific codes and conventions.
