Metalepsis in a Narrative Piece by M. S. Lourenço

This article is focused on the role performed by metalepsis in a short narrative piece by the Portuguese writer and philosopher M. S. Lourenço (1936–2009). In the first section an explanation of the ways metalepsis and leitmotif interact is provided, whereas the second section turns to the metaleptic short circuit between fiction and reality. In the discussion of these issues the analysis of textual variation, which is carried out according to textual genetics, plays a fundamental part.