Metalepsis: Border-crossing Narrative In Narrative Works

In narratology study, metalepsis is a concept to which has not been universally payed attention.Metalepsis, as a term of narratology, is proposed by Gerard Genette. At very beginning, Gerard Genette found metalepsis terms by discussing the function of figure of speech, and he found that some figures of speech had new function of sense-making, so he redefine the meaning. From the perspective of appearance of this term, it experienced a process like this: from metonymy to author metonymy and then to narrative metonymy and to metalepsis at last. Gerard Genette defined metalepsis as a contradictive concept which distinguishes the narrating world from the narrated world, which means the border-crossing entering, or the contrary caused by any narrator or recipient out of the story entering the story, Gerald Prince made reference to Gerard Genette’s view, and he defined metalepsis as the existence’s intruding from that narrative content into this story, which is the mixture of two stories from different levels. However, from the opinion of Gerald Prince, Gerard Genette and other narratology researchers, metalepsis is actually a border-crossing narrative.As a term of narratology, metalepsis did not draw enough attention in academic circles. And the research is mostly confined to the definition of the concept or simple performance in narrative works. However, metalepsis exists in most narrative works in various forms, and has complexity as a kind of border-crossing narrative. But if narrative works wants to cross the border at all levels, it must have a cross connection. This paper focuses on the research of the function classification and significance of metalepsis, which is based on the researching the concept of metalepsis. According to the cross connection, this paper classifies the concept into author metalepsis, narrator metalepsis, character metalepsis and reader metalepsis. At this point, the author mentioned here is not a real author, but “the second author” when he is in the writing. Author metalepsis mainly involves the author’s intervention in the narrative text, and narrative metalepsis analyzes the presentation of metalepsis and classifies into homediegitic narrative and heterodiegitic narrative. As a special narrative metalepsis, metanarrative makes more people focus on narrative itself. Character metalepsis involves, the characters becoming the narrative subjects in narrative levels, and will be analysesed from two parts: vague boundaries and embedded narrative of story and discourse space. Reader metalepsis analyzes how the reader crosses the border into the narrative works and effects the works from direct reader border-crossing, indirect reader border-crossing and second-person narrative “you” border-crossing. This paper makes the nature and function of metalepsis more in depth from classifying the function of metalepsis, and reveals the significance for narrative works from metalepsis, which promotes the readers to understand and analyze the narrative works.