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Q&A Does symbolism have only one level of depth?

Yes, this is possible. It's called deeply nested fiction (and happens to be a particular interest of mine!). Many of the great classic works of world literature, such as the Arabian Nights, use t...

posted 6y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:54:13Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42345
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Chris Sunami‭ · 2019-12-08T10:54:13Z (about 5 years ago)
Yes, **this is possible**. It's called deeply [nested fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_within_a_story) (and happens to be a [particular interest of mine](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-83399-1)!). Many of the great classic works of world literature, such as the _Arabian Nights_, use this pattern. It's likewise common in [modern metafiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metafiction).

In general, in my experience, the more deeply you nest your fiction, **the simpler, the less realist, the more archetypal and the more symbolic the deeper levels become**. So there's an effective limit to how many levels you can reasonably have.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-02-19T19:15:51Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 4