The Jungle of Metafictional Narrative: Fiction, History, and Theory in David Lodge’s Author, Author (2004)

Abstract

This paper investigates metafiction, intertextuality, and the multiple points of view that are identified as fundamental characteristics of contemporary fiction. These narrative strategies are interweaved in Lodge’s biographical novel, Author, Author, to show fiction, history, and theory in a state of narrative play. These strategies have enabled Lodge to present a narrator with multifaceted nature. In some moments, the authorial voice is visible to guide the reader through the narrative. In other moments, the authorial voice blends with that of the protagonist, obliterating the narrative's boundaries to show the protagonist's stream of consciousness. The novel presents a historiographical metafictional analysis of Henry James’ movement away from fiction writing to playwriting. Through metafiction, self-reflexivity, and intertextuality, Lodge interweaves history, literary theory, and fiction together in the narrative to draw the reader's attention to the narrativity itself.

Highlights

1.  Metafictional Synthesis: The research demonstrates how David Lodge interweaves fiction, history, and literary theory to             create  a "metafictional jungle" that scrutinizes the nature of narrativity.

2. Multifaceted Narration: The study identifies a sophisticated narrative structure where the authorial voice, the narrator’s gaze, and the protagonist’s consciousness alternate to blur ontological boundaries.

3. Historiographic Integration: The paper analyzes the novel as a historiographic metafiction that utilizes documentary research to fill historical gaps while simultaneously exposing its own artificiality.

4. Intertextual Methodology: Through the lens of "intertextual encyclopedias," the work explores how Lodge employs transpositions of various signifying systems to dialogue with the modernist legacy of Henry James.

5. Narrative "Short-Circuiting": The analysis highlights the use of the "short-circuit" technique to collapse the distance between the real world and the text, inviting the reader's active participation in the creative process.