When Storyworlds Collide: Metalepsis in Popular Fiction, Film and Comics: 7 (Studies in Intermediality, 7) - Softcover

"One of the greatest merits of this book is that it provides readers with a convincing and viable definition of metalepsis. Based on a concise review of the dominant theories of metalepsis, starting with Gérard Genette's original description of the phenomenon, and drawing on concepts from possible worlds theory, in particular Marie-Laure Ryan and Lubomír Dolezel, Thoss defines metalepsis as the paradoxical transgression of the line separating the inside from the outside of a storyworld. Unlike Genette, who conceptualizes metalepsis as a hierarchical violation.
[...]
As a whole, the book is tightly argued, well-written and thus a pleasure to read. Moreover, Thoss's threefold typology of metaleptical transgressions is a more than useful addition to the existing literature and theory on metalepsis."
-Keyvan Sarkhosh, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany in Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik, (2016) Vol. 41.2 pp. 93-97

When Storyworlds Collide shows that metalepsis possesses a unique dynamics in popular storytelling and has become an essential device for pop-cultural self-reflection – while still retaining an immense potential to create amusing and entertaining narratives.