historiophrafic metafiction

I'm trying to work out what "historiographic metafiction" might be. The problem is that histoiography and metafiction are, to my mind, non-intersecting sets. Historiography is the study of the study (sic) of history; metafiction is literary treatment of fictional literature. I'm having trouble reconciling the two.

Which books have you been reading in your studies? The answer probably lies therein.

It's Linda Hutcheon's term for a kind of literary postmodernism: http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/Literary_Criticism/postmodernism/Hutcheon_outline.html

A couple of examples: Fowles' 'The French Lieutenant's Woman', Morrison's 'Beloved', Rhys 'Wide Sargasso Sea': all mess around with historical genres by infusing them with 'subversive' materials.

(Actually, Peter Carey's historical books are good examples.)

Jesus!

Mason and Dixon.

Possession

wow! i graduated in this subject!
Almost all the work by E. L. Doctorow can be called historiographic metafiction (according to Linda Hutcheon's definition, which is indeed the most accurate), i suggest you read Welcome to Hard Times (a first attempt), The Book of Daniel (very political, but a wonderful novel too), Loon Lake (very experimental, a little to brainy) and obviously Ragtime!
all Doctorow's novels deal more or less openly with the relationship between "History" and "stories". Also, his essays (collected in "Poets & Presidents") are much to the point, especially False Documents...
I wish I had more time to write about this...but, please! feel free to ask any more specific question, I'm really interested in the theme.

You should start a thread.
Is this similar to ethnographic stories? I'm a bit confused - fiction using REAL stories? "Ragtime" is amazing - I just am not understanding where the line is drawn between fiction and history.Isn't it implied that the reader would know the difference? The authors intentions - to tell a story - being paramount.