Narrative Metalepsis in Persian Stories

This study aimed at defining and classifying types of metalepsis, and analyzing its status in Persian stories. Narrative metalepsis refers to the combination of various narrative levels, whereby the author could descend to the story level and communicate with the characters or ascend to the discourse level which is the world of author, narrator and reader. This narrative technique which is also called meta-fictional narration is commonly used in postmodern stories. There are four important types of metalepsis: 1) Descending Metalepsis, whereby the author descends to the story level or the fictional world, 2) Ascending Metalepsis which refers to the movement of the characters out of the fictional world to the real world to encounter the author or readers, 3) Ontological Metalepsis occurs when the author, narrator or character moves across the narrative levels to the fictional or real world, finally 4) Rhetorical Metalepsis happens when the author or character only have a glance at other narrative levels. This narrative device had been used in some Persian stories before it was introduced into Persian sources on narratology and criticism. All the four types of metalepsis have been used in some modern and postmodern Persian novels and short stories. The novel ‘The Gipsy by the Fire’ and the short stories ‘The Last Night, the Last Stairway’ and ‘Bat’ are built upon descending and ontological metalepsis. Other works built upon ascending and ontological metalepsis are the novel ‘Steel-Hearted’, and the short story ‘Again in the Same Streets’. Finally, the short stories ‘The Man Who Didn’t Return’ and ‘Selection’, and the novel ‘The Narrator River’ are built upon rhetorical metalepsis.