Hypodiegetic
Full definition of hypodiegetic
Adjective
hypodiegetic
- (narratology) Pertaining to a secondary narrative embedded within the primary narrative (a story within a story).
- 1999, Charlotte and Emily Brontë: a narrative analysis of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, 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 ...
- 2004, Dubliners' Dozen, 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.
- 2014, Gothic in Comics and Graphic Novels, Continuing this issue of depth: backgrounds are also used throughout some issues of Sandman, for example in Sandman #6 (“24 Hoursâ€) where they provide mood, or Sandman #3 (“Dream a Little Dream of Meâ€) where a hypodiegetic dream story underlies the pages (see for example page 22), with the diegetic narrative sequence overlaid.
Usage notes
The secondary narrative can be a story told by a character within the main story or it can take the form of a dream, nightmare, hallucination, imaginary or other fantasy element.