29/09/2025
Cristian Camilo Cuervo
Representations of Women in Female-authored Anglophone Uchronias: Female Agency in Alternative Worlds
Uchronias, or alternate histories, are a literary genre that enables us to explore the past, play with it, and even transcend it. These narratives speculate on what might have been, but never was, imagining alternative versions to our historiographical reality, and often confronting us with the implications of such scenarios. Despite its undeniable aesthetic and social potential, this genre is commonly overlooked by scholarly studies, particularly with regard to female-authored novels. This study seeks to fi ll this gap and analyse the representations of women and female agency in alternate histories written by women writers, exploring how these narratives refl ect and challenge historical constructions of womanhood(s). Similarly, given uchronias’ dual nature – both speculative and historiographical – this book examines the experiences of women in the fi ctional worlds, compares them with our historical reality, and points out many of the gendered myths, prejudices, and social expectations behind historical and literary depictions of women. Moreover, it aims to draw attention to the emerging yet still underexplored female uchronic tradition, while highlighting the political and social potential of uchronias – not only to reinterpret the past, but also to question and, perhaps, transform the present.
ISBN 978-3-98940-088-7, 196 S., 6 Abb., kt., € 34,50 (2025)
(ELCH - Studies in English Literary and Cultural History, Bd. 91)
https://www.wvttrier.de/p/representations-of-women-in-female-authored-anglophone-uchronias
