eBook - PDF
The Ancient World in Alternative History and Counterfactual Fictions
- 256 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
The Ancient World in Alternative History and Counterfactual Fictions
About this book
Focusing in turn on history, powerful individuals, under-represented voices and the arts, the essays in this collection cover a wide variety of modern and contemporary narrative fiction from Jo Walton and L. Sprague De Camp to T. S. Chaudhry and Catherynne M. Valente. Chapters look into the question of chance versus determinism in the unfolding of historical events, the role individuals play in shaping a society or occasion, and the way art and literature symbolise important messages in counterfactual histories. They also show how uchronic narratives can take advantage of modern literary techniques to reveal new and relevant aspects of the past, giving voices to marginalised minorities and suppressed individuals of the ancient world.
Counterfactual fiction and uchronic narratives have been largely up until now the domain of literary critics. However, these modes of literature are here analysed by scholars of Ancient History, Egyptology and Classics, shedding important new light on how cultures of the ancient world have been (and still are) perceived, and to what extent our conceptions of the past are used to explore alternate presents and futures. Alternate history entices the imagination of the public by suggesting hypothetical scenarios that never occurred, underlining a latent tension between reality and imagination, and between determinism and contingency. This interest has resulted in a growing number of publications that gauge the impact of what-if narratives, and this one is the first to give scholars of the ancient world centre-stage.
Counterfactual fiction and uchronic narratives have been largely up until now the domain of literary critics. However, these modes of literature are here analysed by scholars of Ancient History, Egyptology and Classics, shedding important new light on how cultures of the ancient world have been (and still are) perceived, and to what extent our conceptions of the past are used to explore alternate presents and futures. Alternate history entices the imagination of the public by suggesting hypothetical scenarios that never occurred, underlining a latent tension between reality and imagination, and between determinism and contingency. This interest has resulted in a growing number of publications that gauge the impact of what-if narratives, and this one is the first to give scholars of the ancient world centre-stage.
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Yes, you can access The Ancient World in Alternative History and Counterfactual Fictions by Alberto J. Quiroga Puertas, Leire Olabarria, Alberto J. Quiroga Puertas,Leire Olabarria in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Halftitle page
- Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword: On the Usefulness of What Didn’t Happen
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Text/Translation
- Introduction
- Section 1 Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi : History between Chance and Determinism
- Section 2 Narratives of Power in Uchronias: Between ‘Big Men’ and Underrepresented Voices
- Section 3 Art, Culture and the Poetics of Counterfactuals
- References
- Index