• Atonement
• Black Dogs
• Ian McEwan
• Lessons
• literature
• metafiction
• novel
• reader
• Sweet Tooth
• twist-ending
• writer

Il presente studio intende analizzare la dimensione metanarrativa che pervade il macrotesto romanzesco di Ian McEwan, in particolare in quattro romanzi: Black Dogs, Atonement, Sweet Tooth, Lessons. Nel primo capitolo vengono poste le basi teoriche per una definizione di metafiction facendo riferimento ai principali studi in tale ambito. Nel secondo capitolo viene analizzata la figura dello scrittore delineata nei romanzi di McEwan, con particolare attenzione all'inserimento di personaggi-scrittori nei romanzi. Il terzo capitolo si propone di esaminare l'utilizzo di strategie narrative complesse, come il twist-ending che mette in primo piano la dimensione metanarrativa di un romanzo, portando alla luce i meccanismi interni della narrazione. Nel quarto capitolo si analizza la centralità della dimensione letteraria e il suo intrecciarsi con le vicende dei personaggi. In particolare, l'attenzione sarà concentrata sul rapporto tra letteratura e mondo, tra arte e vita attraverso l'analisi di passi metanarrativi che costellano i romanzi oggetto di analisi.

This study aims to analyse the metafictional dimension pervading Ian McEwan's novelistic macrotext, focusing on four novels: Black Dogs, Atonement, Sweet Tooth and Lessons. The first chapter establishes the theoretical basis for defining metafiction, drawing on key studies in this area. The second chapter analyses the depiction of writers in McEwan's novels, paying particular attention to writer-characters. The third chapter examines the use of complex narrative strategies, such as twist endings, to highlight the metafictional dimension of a novel and reveal the internal workings of the narrative. The fourth chapter analyses the centrality of the literary dimension and how it intertwines with the characters' stories. This study aims to analyse the metafictional dimension pervading Ian McEwan's novelistic macrotext, focusing on four novels: Black Dogs, Atonement, Sweet Tooth, and Lessons. The first chapter establishes the theoretical basis for defining metafiction, drawing on key studies in this area. The second chapter analyses the depiction of writers in McEwan's novels, paying particular attention to writer-characters. The third chapter examines the use of complex narrative strategies, such as twist endings, to emphasise a novel's metafictional dimension and reveal its internal workings. The fourth chapter analyses the centrality of the literary dimension and how it intertwines with the characters' stories. In particular, attention will be focused on the relationship between literature and the world, between art and life, through the analysis of metanarrative passages that punctuate the novels under analysis.