Intermedial Metalepsis in American Travel Writing on the Soviet Union in the 1930s

Abstract

This article examines metalepsis in non-fiction through the lens of multimodal travel writing. Com bining narratological, intermedial, comparative, and discourse-historical approaches, this analysis investigates the travelogues of Will Rogers and Jay Norwood Darling, based on journeys to the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The study demonstrates that humorous and caricatural strategies not only destabilise the boundary between fact and fiction but also reinforce documentary credibility. In Rogers’s text, metalepsis operates through the playful mediation of the cowboy persona and satirical illustration; in Darling’s, it assumes a tragic mode, exposing contradictions within Soviet ideology. Taken together, these case studies reveal that intermedial metalepsis in non-fiction dismantles the illusion of unmediated truth while reaffirming referential authority. The article contributes to narratological debates on metalepsis and advances understanding of the functions of humour, irony, and satire in politically engaged travel writing.