Metanarrative in Ahmed Madini's "The Story of an Illusion": From the Tale of the Corpse to the Tale of Writing

Abstract

This study aims to explore the metanarrative function in Hikayat Wahm (Tale of an Illusion) by Ahmed El Madini, by analyzing how the story evolves from a mere narration of a corpse to a reflective discourse on writing itself. The novel opens onto a fragmented narrative horizon that transcends classical structure, employing meta narration as a deconstructive mechanism to rethink the conditions and mechanisms of storytelling. It draws the readerly self into interaction with a text that does not yield its keys easily, but rather imposes a new contract founded on doubt and distrust, seen as essential gateways to productive reception.

The analysis is divided into three main axes: First, meta narration as a reflection on the components of the story (language, character, and reception conditions), where the fragility of reference is revealed in the face of the authority of language and the transformations of identity.

Second, an examination of the narrator as a textual substitute for the implied author, seeking to decode and complete the story in continuous complicity with the implied reader.

Third, the novel offers a contemplative view of itself, engaging in a self-critical reflection on its structure and reshaping the reader’s position through a discourse that is aware of its own tools and implications.

In the final section of the article, the metanarrative program is proposed as a theoretical framework derived from narrative semiotics, to analyze the dynamics of the self in its quest to attain the value-object (the end of the story). The analysis demonstrates that the novel establishes a dual narrative trajectory, where storytelling as fantasy intersects with meta narration as critical awareness of the narrative process. In this way, Hikayat Wahm becomes a novel that speaks of itself and writes the story of its own writing, aiming for a narrative open to multiple readings and interpretations, and contributing to the foundation of a modern conception of Moroccan storytelling.