Literary Communication and Narrative Credibility: Metadiscursive Markers as a Tool for Reader Integration in English-Language Prose

Abstract

The article examines the means of achieving narrative credibility in English literary prose through the lens of author-reader communication. It argues that the category of "narrative" helps to overcome the opposition between the static structure of a text and the dynamics of its production, offering an integrated view of the nature of literary discourse. The empirical focus of the study is on metadiscursive markers – personal and possessive pronouns, parenthetical constructions, and address forms. The analysis of specific examples from 19th–20th century prose demonstrates that these seemingly auxiliary elements play a crucial role in establishing contact with the reader. They not only accompany the main content but actively create the illusion of direct conversation, drawing the recipient into the fictional world. This approach allows for a reconsideration of the traditional understanding of credibility: it arises not so much from the plausibility of events as from a linguistically structured dialogue. Metadiscourse, from this perspective, serves as the primary instrument for producing the "reality effect", transforming the reader from a passive observer into a participant in the narrative.