Interactive Uchronia: Rewriting Spaces in the Digital Age

Authors

  • Daniel Lumbreras Martínez Universidad de Oviedo
Keywords: uchronia, alternate history, videogames, interactive narrative, post-truth, possible worlds

Abstract

This article analyses uchronia in the digital age, focusing on how videogames and interactive narratives allow the user to actively participate in the creation of alternate worlds. Through examples of realistic, projective, and impossible uchronias, the paper examines the role of digital uchronia as an epistemological tool to challenge historical narratives and its impact on contemporary perceptions of history. It argues that digital uchronia, by allowing the user to manipulate and experiment with history, offers a space for critical reflection on the construction of historical knowledge and truth in the post-truth era.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Albaladejo Mayordomo, Tomás (1998). Teoría de los mundos posibles y macroestructura narrativa. Alicante, Universidad de Alicante.

Aarseth, Espen J. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.

Benito Temprano, Claudia Sofía (2020). “Mundos pos-imposibles. Una aproximación a la ciencia ficción rara”. Archivum, 70 (1), 17-41. https://doi.org/10.17811/arc.70.1.2020.17-41

Firth, R., Ferreri, Mara y Lang, Andreas (2016). “Future(s) Perfect: uchronian mapping as a research and visualisation tool in the fringes of the Olympic Park”. Livingmaps Review. 1 (1). Recuperado de: http://livingmaps.review/journal/index.php/LMR/article/view/21 (último acceso: 28/08/2024).

Hayles, Katherine (1999). How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics. Chicago y Londres, The University of Chicago Press.

Hellekson, Karen (2001). The alternate history. Refiguring historical time. Kent, Ohio y Longres, The Kent State University Press.

Hutcheon, Linda (2002). The Politics of Postmodernism. Londres, Routledge.

Jenkins, Henry (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. Nueva York, New York University Press.

Lavocat, Françoise (2019). “Possible Wordls, Virtual Worlds”. En Bell, Alice y Ryan, Marie-Laure (eds). Possible Worlds Theory and Contemporary Narratology. Lincoln y Londres, University of Nebraska Press, 272-295.

Murray, Janet H. (2016). Hamlet on the Holodeck. The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Nueva York, The Free Press.

McHale, Brian (2004). Postmodernist Fiction. Londres, Routledge.

Ricoeur, Paul (1984). Time and Narrative. Vol. 1. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Rodríguez Pequeño, Javier (2008). Géneros literarios y mundos posibles. Madrid, Eneida.

Ryan, Marie-Laure (1991). Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence and Narrative Theory. Indiana, Indiana University Press.

Rosenfeld, Gavriel. (2002). “Why Do We Ask 'What If?' Reflections on the Function of Alternate History”. History and Theory, 41(4), 90-103. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2303.00222

Stableford, Brian M, Gary K Wolfe y David Langford (2023). “Alternate History”. En Clute, John y Langford, David (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Ansible Editions, actualizado el 21 de agosto de 2023, Recuperado de: https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/alternate_history (último acceso: 29/09/2024).

Suvin, Darko (1979). Metamorphoses of Science Fiction. On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre. Nueva York y Londres, Yale University Press.

Todorov, Tzvetan (2016) [1970]. Introducción a la literatura fantástica. México D.F., Coyoacán.

Wolf, Mark J. P. (2014). Building Imaginary Worlds. The Theory and History of Subcreation. Nueva York y Londres, Routledge.

Published
28-02-2025
How to Cite
Lumbreras Martínez, D. (2025). Interactive Uchronia: Rewriting Spaces in the Digital Age. Monteagudo. Revista de Literatura Española, Hispanoamericana y Teoría de la Literatura, (30), 61–78. Retrieved from https://revistas.um.es/monteagudo/article/view/633081
Issue
No. 30 (2025): Spaces of Theory
Section
Monográfico

Copyright (c) 2025 Monteagudo. Revista de Literatura Española, Hispanoamericana y Teoría de la Literatura

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported License.

The works published in this journal are subject to the following terms:

 

  1. The Publications Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) retains the property rights (copyright) of the published works, and encourages and allows their reuse under the license of use indicated in point 2.

 

© Publications Service, University of Murcia, 2011

 

  1. The works are published in the electronic edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Spain license (legal text). They may be copied, used, distributed, transmitted and publicly displayed, provided that: i) the authorship and the original source of their publication (journal, publisher and URL of the work) are cited; ii) they are not used for commercial purposes; iii) the existence and specifications of this license of use are mentioned.