--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For Metafiction, in its ascendant and…" description: "\"“For Metafiction, in its ascendant and most important phases, was really nothing more than a single-order expansion of its own great theoretical nemisi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/341/david-foster-wallace-161_realism_for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-mos_2819500.jpg" --- # For Metafiction, in its ascendant and most important… ![“For Metafiction, in its ascendant and most important phases, was really nothing more than a single-order expansion of its own great theoretical nemisis, Realism: if realism called it like it saw it, Metafiction simply called it as it saw itself seeing itself see.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/341/david-foster-wallace-161_realism_for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-mos_2819500.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/341/david-foster-wallace-161_realism_for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-mos_2819500.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/341/david-foster-wallace-161_realism_for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-mos_2819500.jpg) > ““For Metafiction, in its ascendant and most important phases, was really nothing more than a single-order expansion of its own great theoretical nemisis, Realism: if realism called it like it saw it, Metafiction simply called it as it saw itself seeing itself see.”” [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Metafiction critiques realism by exposing its own self-awareness, turning observation into self-reflection. **In simple terms:** Metafiction shows realism looking at itself. Key Takeaway Recognize self-referential layers in art. Themes literature self-awareness realism Mood analytical introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - book analysis - creative writing workshops - film critique Key Concepts postmodernism meta-narrative Questions to Reflect On - How does self-reference change meaning? - What does this reveal about realism? A Different Perspective Readers may miss deeper critique. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) ## Related quotes > [If Realism called it like it saw it, Metafiction simply called it as it saw itself seeing itself see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/if-realism-called-it-like-it-saw-it-metafiction-simply-called-it-as/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Ideologically, I have a lot of problems with that, especially when people toss around that form of story as realism. 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I was impossible to knock down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-felt-more-solidly-composed-now-that-i-was-horizontal-i-was/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“We all have our little solipsistic delusions, ghastly intuitions of utter singularity: that we are the only one in the house who ever fills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/we-all-have-our-little-solipsistic-delusions-ghastly-intuitions-of/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It's no accident that in a bureaucracy getting fired is called 'termination,' as in ontological erasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-no-accident-that-in-a-bureaucracy-getting-fired-is-called/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Footnote: 79) The anchor is gigantic and must weigh a hundred tons, and -- delightfully -- it really is anchor-shaped, i.e. the same shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/footnote-79-the-anchor-is-gigantic-and-must-weigh-a-hundred-tons-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The paradoxical intercourse of audience and celebrity. 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If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-be-in-a-word-unborable-it-is-the-key-to-modern-life-if-you-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It is within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-is-within-your-power-to-experience-a-crowded-loud-slow-consumer/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The happy pleasure of the person alone, yes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-happy-pleasure-of-the-person-alone-yes/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [There is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/there-is-such-a-thing-as-raw-unalloyed-agendaless-kindness/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Explore all 999 David Foster Wallace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## More Realism quotes > [“The threats that resurfaced in the past 10 years were not an aberration. 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No realism, but something much better, great truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-renoir/there-is-no-realism-in-american-films-no-realism-but-something-much/) [Jean Renoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-renoir/) > [I was under the influence of the early modern masters, Fitzgerald and Steinbeck and Hemingway, especially, when I was a kid. I reacted against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/i-was-under-the-influence-of-the-early-modern-masters-fitzgerald-and/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [“You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-d-like-freedom-truth-and-justice-wouldn-t-you-comrade-sergeant/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Art finds her own perfection within, and not outside of, herself. She is not to be judged by any external standard of resemblance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/art-finds-her-own-perfection-within-and-not-outside-of-herself-she-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What you live is your reality , what you wish is your dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramis/what-you-live-is-your-reality-what-you-wish-is-your-dream/) Ramis > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I think that it's important to try to keep reality. I think that Gabriel Garcia Marquez speaks a lot about reality in his magical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-think-that-it-s-important-to-try-to-keep-reality-i-think-that/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. Here the aesthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/art-is-realistic-when-it-strives-to-express-an-ethical-ideal-realism/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [Im not Superman. So I cant say anything big like Ill protect everyone on Earth. Im not a modest guy who will say its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-not-superman-so-i-cant-say-anything-big-like-ill-protect-everyone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I live an artistic double life: one of classical realism and the other of aesthetic exploration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alton-tobey/i-live-an-artistic-double-life-one-of-classical-realism-and-the-other/) [Alton Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alton-tobey/) > [Cynical realism is the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/cynical-realism-is-the-intelligent-man-s-best-excuse-for-doing/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Browse all 787 Realism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For Metafiction, in its ascendant and most important phases, was really nothing more than a single-order expansion of its own great theoretical nemisis, Realism: if realism called it like it saw it, Metafiction simply called it as it saw itself seeing itself see.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-most-important-phases-was-really/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Realism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-most-important-phases-was-really/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/341/david-foster-wallace-161_realism_for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-mos_2819500.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/341/david-foster-wallace-161_realism_for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-mos_2819500.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/341/david-foster-wallace-161_realism_for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-mos_2819500.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For Metafiction, in its ascendant and most important phases, was really nothing more than a single-order…” — David Foster Wallace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Foster Wallace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“For Metafiction, in its ascendant and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-most-important-phases-was-really/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/for-metafiction-in-its-ascendant-and-most-important-phases-was-really/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```