Metafiction

Metafiction is another means the authors of postmodern and electronic texts utilize to achieve a nonlinearity of sorts, with the consequence being both an emphasis on the reader/author relationship and also the materiality of the text. In Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler, the continuous presentation of “Chapter One,” every time a different story, and intervening chapters containing a metafiction of the reader attempting to locate the missing texts, Calvino accomplishes both of these successfully.

In hypertext, such as afternoon and Patchwork Girl, the meta-text is often commentary from the author on the reading or writing process, also highlighting the materiality of the text and the presence of the author.