Dictionary

hypodiegetic en · ADJ

Etymology

From hypo- + diegetic.

Meanings

1. Pertaining to a secondary narrative embedded within the primary narrative (a story within a story).
   • Continuing this issue of depth: backgrounds are also used throughout some issues of Sandman, for example in Sandman #6 (“24 Hours”) where they provide mood, or Sandman #3 (“Dream a Little Dream of Me”) where a hypodiegetic dream story underlies the pages (see for example page 22), with the diegetic narrative sequence overlaid. 2014, Julia Round, Gothic in Comics and Graphic Novels, page 71:
   • In Jane Eyre this hypodiegetic level is only attained four times again, first in chapter fifteen, in which Rochester tells Jane about his mistress Celine Varens, second in chapter twenty-seven [...] 1999, Esther Schönberger-Schleicher, Charlotte and Emily Brontë: a narrative analysis of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, →ISBN, page 182:
   • Gretta's story, by contrast, has all the force of an authentic performance, a spontaneous speech-act that recreates its own referential validity. As such, it is the most coherent and integrated hypodiegetic act of narration in Dubliners. 2004, Gerald Doherty, Dubliners' Dozen, page 132:

Forms

Synonyms

metadiegetic