TERMIUM Plus®

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ALTERNATE HISTORY [1 record]

Record 1 2005-11-18

English

Subject field(s)
  • History (General)
  • Education Theory and Methods
DEF

The description of history with changes in a few key facts or events as the basis for speculation of a different outcome.

CONT

Virtual history, also referred to as counterfactual history, is a form of history which attempts to answer "what if" questions. It seeks to explore history and historical processes from the point of view of extrapolating a position in which certain key historical events did not happen or had an outcome which was different to that which did in fact occur. Most historians regard counterfactual history as sometimes entertaining, but not meeting the standards of mainstream historical research due to its speculative nature.

OBS

[Favorite] subjects for counterfactual history conjecture include: ... "What if the Confederacy won the Civil War?" ... What if the Kaiser's Germany won World War I?" ...

French

Domaine(s)
  • Histoire (Généralités)
  • Théories et méthodes pédagogiques
CONT

D'abord, comment désigne-t-on cet exercice qui consiste à faire l'histoire avec des «si» ? Les Anglais disent What if? Il y a d'ailleurs des collections entières de livres anglais qui portent ce titre. C'est un titre prosaïque qui diminue sans doute un peu le sujet. On peut, en termes plus abstraits, parler d'histoire contrefactuelle ou virtuelle. Un de nos compatriotes du XIXe siècle, Charles Renouvier, avait inventé un substantif féminin, l'uchronie, construit à partir du grec sur le modèle d'utopie, pour désigner l'histoire faite en pensée, telle qu'elle aurait pu être et qu'elle n'a pas été.

Spanish

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