(A term denoting) self-reflection within the structure of a literary work; a work employing self-reflection.
((n.) A abyss.)
Origin:
1960s; earliest use found in Yale French Studies. From French mise en abyme from mise + en into + abyme, variant of abîme, after mettre en abyme, in which abyme is used in the specifically heraldic sense of the centre of an escutcheon.