To Be or Not to Be: On the Ontology and Morality of Metafictional Characters in The Dirge City Story

Abstract

The Dirge City Story is a speculative metafiction about a character that learns of his own
fictionality, and the fictionality of his world, the way he comes to terms with this knowledge
and how his newfound understanding affects the choices he makes. The story is set in the
mind of the author; it examines the relationship between protagonists, antagonists and
conflict in story-creation, and attempts to subvert stereotypes within the fantasy genre and
comment on storytelling within the genre.

This thesis is also a critical exploration of the ontology of self-aware fictional characters and
the effect of self-awareness on morality. By examining the second act from The Dirge City
Story, it investigates the context in which metafictional characters can be said to exist, how
they come to terms with the awareness of their fictional existence and under what
conditions can morality be sustained in a metafictional world. Throughout the thesis, the
relationship between the author, the reader and the characters is scrutinised, with a focus
on how their relations affects the characters’ ontologies and the consequences for their
attitudes towards morality.