Harpo
Getting away with it
With an apology for the thread title, I don't know what to call this thing.
If one of my characters is an author, and they write stories about an author, do the characters created by the first and second authors exist on different levels of reality? (Fictional or otherwise)
And do I exist on another such level 'above' them?
I picture it like this:
1st level of reality - me.
2nd level - my characters, including 'first author'.
3rd level - first author's characters, including 'second author'.
4th level - second author's characters, including a philosopher who's wondering about different levels of reality.
Is there a better name for this than 'levels of reality'?
If one of my characters is an author, and they write stories about an author, do the characters created by the first and second authors exist on different levels of reality? (Fictional or otherwise)
And do I exist on another such level 'above' them?
I picture it like this:
1st level of reality - me.
2nd level - my characters, including 'first author'.
3rd level - first author's characters, including 'second author'.
4th level - second author's characters, including a philosopher who's wondering about different levels of reality.
Is there a better name for this than 'levels of reality'?