If you follow genre idiot box , internet fandom , or literary criticism , you ’ve probably heard the Christian Bible “ meta ” used to key out everything from a narrative phase , to intensive analysis of fiber backstories in Harry Potter . How did this Hellenic prefix meaning “ beyond ” come up to mean so much to so many of us ?
you could likely blame it all on philosophy . Many years after the Grecian philosopher Aristotle had pass , scholars collected his work into a collection where his philosophical musings were placed after his musings on physics , or science . They called this division on ism “ metaphysics ” because “ meta ” can be approximately translate to have in mind “ beyond ” or “ after ” ( it can also intend a few other things , but let ’s leave behind those away ) . This usance of the discussion metaphysics apace mutated beyond its original , real signification of “ stuff that comes after the part on physics . ” It make out to describe a whole branch of Western philosophy that was concerned with the realm beyond what scientific discipline could describe .
And thus the weird history of “ meta ” began , with a slippage in stand for that pretty much never stopped slide around . philosopher in the millennia since Aristotle have often classified their work as “ metaphysical , ” but meta has live through another speedy set of modification over the last few X .
In the early twentieth century , assimilator get down to use meta as a prefix to mean “ something about something , ” so that metaeconomics is a form of economics that like a shot references economics — and a metalanguage is a oral communication that ’s used to describe other languages . In the 1970s , critics began talking about “ metafiction ” and “ metanarratives ” — these were history that were about storytelling itself . The literary scholar William Gass is often credited with popularizing the term “ metafiction . ” In a 1970 essay , he wrote that metafictions emergewhen “ the forms of fiction answer as fabric upon which further forms can be inflict . ” No longer were writers contented with writing floor about masses or result ; instead , they were writing stories about writing report . Metafiction can take a number of forms — anything from the author addressing the reader directly , to an author writing a book about composition leger . In motion picture and telly , we ’d call these techniquesbreaking the fourth wall .
The Most Fourth Wall - Breaking second in Television History
Now we ’re stick into dominion that video fans recognize . Shows like Supernatural are noted for their metafictional sequence where the two master characters bound into the real existence and discover that they are actually actors in a TV serial . And TV / movie Almighty Joss Whedon has turned the metafiction into his signature move — most recently , we saw this with Cabin the the Woods , which is essentially a revulsion picture about induce repulsion movies ( but also is n’t ) . rooter often call this kind of story “ meta , ” which seems as if it might be poor for “ metafiction . ”
Or is it ?
have ’s dial back for a minute and bring back to the seventies , when meta scram really meta . In 1979 , cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter published his celebrated work on the nature of cognisance , Gödel , Escher , Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid . He may have been one of the first people to apply the word “ meta ” by itself , as a agency of talk about logical loops . So it may have been Hofstadter ’s influence , as much as Gass ’ , that pose people using the word “ meta ” to describe any variety of “ X about X ” logic .
Today , the word meta has undergone another transformation , for the most part because of the intensely self - referential fandom community online . Back in the 1970s , metafiction was mostly rhetorical . A Jehovah could “ talk ” to his or her fan in a history , but there was no simple way for those fans to spill back . Now they can , and they do . So when creators venture beyond the 4th rampart , there is a gargantuan legion of people waiting for them .
This has meant that many shows have meta episodes that are basically fan overhaul . So meta has become a popular trope , and lover have respond by using the terminal figure meta to describe these kinds of episode .
But more significantly , fans have transformed the word meta yet again , twist it from an adjective that describes a variety of story into a noun that refer to a form of buff commentary . These days , any essay , rant , or analysis written by a sports fan is often dubbed “ a meta . ” Over at theTeen Wolf Meta Tumblr , we see this definition spell out out quite nicely :
Meta , in Fandom terminology , is ordinarily used to key the analysis of a show , its characters , or Fandom itself . Very often , people make meta that is almost donnish in nature , refer multiple resource and defending their point of scene .
Meta , in damage of this blog , is being charter as a mantle term to include thing like headcanon , ship manifestos , theories , and fictional character analysis .
Basically , if you ’ve made a Wiley Post or a word about something that ’s go on on Teen Wolf and have added enough detail , account , and evidence to substantiate this , then it belongs here .
Interestingly , the reference to “ donnish ” meta marks a recurrence to the 1970 Gass definition . At that time , the discussion of metanarrative was have place almost exclusively in scholarly rotary . Through all these twist and turn , the Christian Bible meta has also retained one other look of its origin in classical antiquity . Aristotle ’s philosophical commentary was what come in “ after ” his other work . And in today ’s fandom , the meta come up after we ’ve all watched or study something and are quick to get down to the analysis .
But a lot has changed , too . Meta no longer depict a literary dash or logical loop . Instead , it is part of an existent conversation that ’s taking place between creators and audience every twenty-four hour period online . The rhetoric has become the real number . Which is , of course , very meta .
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