/lit/ - Literature

What's the point of metafiction? I see lots of postmodern authors use this: Kurt Vonnegut, John Barth, Italo Calvino. And it's not just literature; lots of movies and cartoons constantly refer to themselves, like the films of Mel Brooks or the short Duck Amuck. To me, metafiction seems like some stupid gimmick, a weirdness for weirdness sake. I find this especially true in 'If on a Winter's Night a Traveler'; a book about the reader reading the book is a cute idea, but beyond that there's no substance. How does metafiction add to the work?

You are about to begin reading the /lit/ thread, ITT Metafictional Books. Relax. This is a thread for you to discuss your favourite books with metafiction in them, books that constantly remind you that you are reading a book, books where fictional characters are aware they are fictional characters. Well, what are you waiting for? You click the [Reply] link or, if you browse the catalog, you click the M.C. Escher drawing of the hands to open this thread. The first post reads '"fpbp". You scroll through the thread, hoping to see that someone has mentioned your favourite metafictional book, but you don't find it. Inwardly, you think no one on /lit/ reads. You reply to the original post, saying "so-and-so is my favourite metafictional work because this-and-that, as well as these-and-those." Someone replies to you with a single word: "cringe." This dissuades you from putting effort into your posts, so you begin shitposting.