Telling It Like It Wasn’t

The Counterfactual Imagination in History and Fiction

Nonfiction, History, Reference, Historiography, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Telling It Like It Wasn’t by Catherine Gallagher, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Catherine Gallagher ISBN: 9780226512556
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: January 26, 2018
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Catherine Gallagher
ISBN: 9780226512556
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: January 26, 2018
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

Inventing counterfactual histories is a common pastime of modern day historians, both amateur and professional. We speculate about an America ruled by Jefferson Davis, a Europe that never threw off Hitler, or a second term for JFK. These narratives are often written off as politically inspired fantasy or as pop culture fodder, but in Telling It Like It Wasn’t, Catherine Gallagher takes the history of counterfactual history seriously, pinning it down as an object of dispassionate study. She doesn’t take a moral or normative stand on the practice, but focuses her attention on how it works and to what ends—a quest that takes readers on a fascinating tour of literary and historical criticism.

Gallagher locates the origins of contemporary counterfactual history in eighteenth-century Europe, where the idea of other possible historical worlds first took hold in philosophical disputes about Providence before being repurposed by military theorists as a tool for improving the art of war. In the next century, counterfactualism became a legal device for deciding liability, and lengthy alternate-history fictions appeared, illustrating struggles for historical justice. These early motivations—for philosophical understanding, military improvement, and historical justice—are still evident today in our fondness for counterfactual tales. Alternate histories of the Civil War and WWII abound, but here, Gallagher shows how the counterfactual habit of replaying the recent past often shapes our understanding of the actual events themselves. The counterfactual mode lets us continue to envision our future by reconsidering the range of previous alternatives. Throughout this engaging and eye-opening book, Gallagher encourages readers to ask important questions about our obsession with counterfactual history and the roots of our tendency to ask “What if…?”

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Inventing counterfactual histories is a common pastime of modern day historians, both amateur and professional. We speculate about an America ruled by Jefferson Davis, a Europe that never threw off Hitler, or a second term for JFK. These narratives are often written off as politically inspired fantasy or as pop culture fodder, but in Telling It Like It Wasn’t, Catherine Gallagher takes the history of counterfactual history seriously, pinning it down as an object of dispassionate study. She doesn’t take a moral or normative stand on the practice, but focuses her attention on how it works and to what ends—a quest that takes readers on a fascinating tour of literary and historical criticism.

Gallagher locates the origins of contemporary counterfactual history in eighteenth-century Europe, where the idea of other possible historical worlds first took hold in philosophical disputes about Providence before being repurposed by military theorists as a tool for improving the art of war. In the next century, counterfactualism became a legal device for deciding liability, and lengthy alternate-history fictions appeared, illustrating struggles for historical justice. These early motivations—for philosophical understanding, military improvement, and historical justice—are still evident today in our fondness for counterfactual tales. Alternate histories of the Civil War and WWII abound, but here, Gallagher shows how the counterfactual habit of replaying the recent past often shapes our understanding of the actual events themselves. The counterfactual mode lets us continue to envision our future by reconsidering the range of previous alternatives. Throughout this engaging and eye-opening book, Gallagher encourages readers to ask important questions about our obsession with counterfactual history and the roots of our tendency to ask “What if…?”

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Huxley's Church and Maxwell's Demon by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book The Public School Advantage by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Houston, We Have a Narrative by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Writing for Social Scientists by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book The Myth of Achievement Tests by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Awakening to Race by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book The Great William by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book The Improbability of Othello by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Political Ethnography by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Kinship by Design by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Rereading the Fossil Record by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book How to Humble a Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book The Economics of Food Price Volatility by Catherine Gallagher
Cover of the book Before Voltaire by Catherine Gallagher
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy