Exploration of metafictional texts, that is, texts that call attention to themselves as artifice. Examination of how these texts expose their status as fictional constructs both thematically and structurally and, thus, how they call into question the boundaries between fiction and reality. Although the term “metafiction,” which William Gass coined in 1970, is used most often to refer to postmodern works in the Western tradition written in the 1960s and 1970s, metafictional texts date back to antiquity and can be found across the globe. Accordingly, this course examines contemporary metafictional texts from East Africa, China, Europe and the United States, as well as their precursors. Emphasis on close reading of literary texts as well as on critical analysis and writing.