Category: Week 10 Questions – SciFi/Alt-History

2. What distinctions are there between alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie genres?

As we know, science fiction is a genre of fiction that typically includes themes of futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extra-terrestrial life. Within science fiction there are various literary subgenres, including alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie. According to Wegner (2013) alternate histories focus on crucial historical points of our existing universe which have radically different results thus creating an “alternate history” different from our own, with examples such as: the Nazis winning World War II, the American Revolution failing to occur, the South winning the Civil War or Hitler escaping into postwar hiding, and many others (Rosenfeld, G., 2002).

Alternate history is the first distinct subgenre of science fiction which I will be discussing. Alternate history is built upon the idea of the “what if” scenario rather than the inclusion of science or parallel universe and time travel. Thus, the reader experiences a creative text of an alternate reality in which past events have radically different outcomes. First and foremost an alternate history possesses the same historical background of the real world,  secondly, a crucial moment in history is altered by a major degree and the story addresses the shifts of the world in response to that dramatic difference (Winthrop-Young, G., 2009) but still follows the natural order of a linear, or ‘diachronic’ view of time (Mountfort, P., 2016).

According to Mountfort (2018) postmodern alternate history, while still exploring an alternate historical event and its consequences and influences on the world’s wider timeline, enters a synchronic view of time. Postmodern alternate history applies themes of postmodern relativism in which the casual line is discarded in favour of multiple coexistences of factors or facts (Mountfort, P., 2018), and placing at the foreground a highly chaotic historical event or moment.

Unlike the two previous genres, uchronie, a French term used to describe alternative history genres, focused primarily upon the coexistence of alternative worlds, universes or timelines in conjunction with one another, or parallel universes and histories (Mountfort, P., 2018). Rather than an individual historical event radically changing the outcome of the universes timeline, uchronie explores individual events, sometimes one or many, which exist side-by-side (Mountfort, P., 2018).

References

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s the man in the high castle. Science Fiction Studies.

Mountfort, P. (2018). Science fictional doubles: Technologization of the doppelganger and sinister science in serial science fiction TV. Journal of Science & Popular Culture.

Rosenfeld, G. (2002). Reflections on the function of alternate history. Wiley for Wesleyan University.

Wegner, P. E., (2013). Detonating new shockwaves of possibility: Alternate histories and the geopolitical aesthetics of Ken MacLeod and Iain M. Banks. Michigan State University Press.

Winthrop-Young, G. (2009). Fallacies and Thresholds: Notes on the Early Evolution of Alternate History. Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung, 34(2 (128)), 99-117.

1. On what grounds does Mountfort (2018) dispute Williams’ (1990) view that the I Ching does not figure in the novel aside from a few oracle consultations?

As stated within the question itself, Paul Williams’ “The Author and the Oracle” (1990) suggests that the I Ching is a narrative device of limited importance to the overall themes and narrative of the acclaimed alt-history novel The Man in the High Castle. Mountfort on the other hand, claims this oracle is core to constructing thematic complexity throughout the text as a whole as well as enabling an appropriate reading of the text’s ambiguous conclusion. Central to this claim is the presented idea that the I Ching’s role in the text facilitates the exploration of the philosophical notion of Synchronicity and postmodernism as a framework. The I Ching can best be described as a divination text developed in the Western Zhou period of ancient China to both predict the future and suggest appropriate courses of action to the reader. Multiple times throughout The Man in the High Castle, characters seek the guidance of the I Ching, which in turn informs their course of actions and instigates many of the plot points within the novel. The ongoing prescience of the I Ching in the narrative showcases that at least within this literary setting, there is a level of Synchronicity which dictates the future.

Unlike the common conception of  that events occur due to the interplay of many different observable systems and earlier events the precede them in time, Synchronicity as a theory suggests that events occur instead due to unfathomable connections between all things in the universe, and are not in fact random, but dictated by a ‘universal unconscious’ (Radford, 2014). By presenting the I Ching as a means to comprehend reality in an alt-history context, Dick explores the postmodern notion that the reality of this fictional world, and by extension our own, is not necessarily determined by western notions of linear causality or the ‘diachronic’. The I Ching is further used to explore this concept via structural parallels between characters in the text, especially in reference to their use of this oracle. Many of the characters use the I Ching in order to seek answers throughout the text, with the oracle repeatedly providing similar answers to those in similar circumstances, leading to an unknowable connection between these actors both in regards to the events of the story as well as through their shared experiences with the I Ching. These narrative parallels further explore the philosophy that events and individuals are connected by irrational mechanisms, almost as if driven by larger unknowable cosmic cycles. Mountfort posits that without the centrality of the I Ching to these obscured connections, the novel would be unable to function as it does, and therefore this device plays an important role in both the stylistic and thematic choices made in the creation of the text.

Dick also seemingly utilizes the I Ching to underline similarities between our world and that of the text. In The Man in the High Castle, the titular character of the text is an alt-reality version of Dick, who has written his own alt-reality novel which depicts a world roughly similar to ours using the I Ching, much like Dick used the I Ching to plan his novel. Mountfort claims that the intentional mirroring between the two, enabled once more by the I Ching, acts to question whether our reality is any more real than the reality depicted within the novel, adding a postmodern, metafictional element to the novel. This metafictional element is the crux of the conclusion, where the I Ching reveals to the protagonists that the reality constructed by Hawthorne Abendsen also exists in some capacity. Here the I Ching is used once more to enhance the postmodern trend of deconstructing the frameworks we use to understand our reality. Dick uses this conclusion to establish an intertextual interplay between the novel, the internal novel, and our reality, at the centre of which is the I Ching and the philosophies carried with it. With Mountfort highlighting the various narrative and thematic explorations provided by the I Ching, it becomes abundantly clear that Williams’ interpretation of the device is limited at best.

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies, 43(2), 287-309. https://doi:10.5621/sciefictstud.43.2.0287

Williams, P. (1990, December). The author and the oracle. PKDS Newsletter, (25), 1-10.

Radford, B. (2014). Synchronicity: Definition & Meaning. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/43105-synchronicity-definition-meaning.html

What distinctions are there between alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie genres?

Science fiction is a genre that is fiction based and focuses on imaginary technological or scientific advances. The genre also frequently uses social and environmental changes in its narrative. Some examples include: Time travel, Teleportation, Aliens, extraterrestrial lifeforms, and mutants, Space travel and exploration, Interplanetary warfare, Parallel universes, Fictional worlds etc.

Alternate history is a subgenre of science fiction, it emphases on the “what if” rather than science. Alternate history uses fictional worlds to present actions or events that took place in the past and at a certain time changing the result.

According to Shimmin (2019) There are three common elements of alternative history:

1. Background history the same as the real world,

2. A change at one critical point (the Point of Departure).

3. A story that explores the consequences of that change.

The second element, the point of departure is where the action or event at a particular time occurred differently in the alternative world and the real world resulting in the two worlds (two histories) being distinctly different. For instance, instead of myself moving to Auckland, I stayed in Dunedin which would create the starting point for a different world, leading to the flow in constant change thus an alternative history. 

According to Ramson (2010) “the postmodern alternate history tends to be synchronicity narrative that include historical chaos.” (p. 263) Meaning, that the alternate history concentrations on historical changes that could result in chaos and thus, presenting a postmodern perspective.

Recently, I watched a Korean drama called “The King: Eternal Monarch” this drama practices postmodern alternate history’ as it presents two worlds affected by the Japanese colonization and rule but both worlds take different paths. The worlds are represented at the same point in time through the drama. ‘Kingdom of Corea into the parallel world of the Republic of Korea’ Every single person has a doppelganger in the other world. The difference is that one world won the battle against Japan and one lost resulting in significant change. The 2020 South Korea we know today is portrayed with a democracy, but the other world is still led under the monarchy.

Uchrione is the French term to describe alternative history generes. (p. 66) According to Mountfort (2016) elaborates on the three subcategories of uchronie: “pure uchronia,” which is stated to consist of one alternative world; “plural uchronia,” in which two worlds exist in parallel, and “infinite uchronia,” with many worlds that can be many worlds including infinite parallel worlds (p. 306)

In conclusion, the genres I have listed above all involve the use of alternate world/worlds but differ in future outcomes due to altered timelines. The Synchronic or diachronic perspective in the narrative is important to take note of in order to determine genres.

Mountfort, P. (2018). Science fictional doubles: Technologization of the doppelganger and sinister science in serial science fiction TV. Journal of Science & Popular Culture, 1(1) 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1386/jspc.1.1.59_1

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies. 

Ransom, A. (2010). Warping Time: Alternate History, Historical Fantasy, and the Postmodern      Uchronie Québécoise. Extrapolation.

Shimmin, G. (2019, May 7). What is Alternative History? Alternative History Defined. Graeme      Shimmin, spy thriller and alternate history writer. http://graemeshimmin.com/what-   is-alternative-history/.

Singles, K. (2013). Alternate history: playing with contingency and necessity. De Gruyter.

Alternate history, Postmodern alternate history and Uchoronie are the subgenres of science fiction. Science fiction is a novel genre that have futuristic elements, such as advance science, technology, or concepts of space and extraterrestrial being. The subgenres, alternate history, postmodern alternate history and Uchoronie have to do with their stylistic and philosophical time, dimensions or universe within the novel.  

Alternate history is basically the “what if…” of a part of history that we known. Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, can perhaps be considered an alternate history piece, as the story is about one of the most well known history of all time, World War II, with the Nazis wining the war (Mountfort, 2016, p. 301). 

Postmodern Alternate History, according to Mountfort (2018) it is a concept of Frederic Jameson’s Archaeologies of the Future (2005). It has synchronic view of time with the spectre of the postmodern relativism (Mountfort, 2016, p. 301).

Uchoronie is a French term, according to Mountfort (2018) the genre describe “the presence of competing timelines or alternate histories” (p. 66). Referencing William Joseph Collins, there are three subcategories of uchoronie, which are Pure uchoronia, Plural uchoronia, and Infinite uchronia. Pure uchoronia have one alternative world. Plural uchoronia when one world and an alternate world exist in parallel. Infinite uchronia have many or infinite parallel worlds. (Mountfort, 2016, 306). 

Looking simply at The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, it may look like a simple alternate history genre, however many also argue that its should be consider as postmodern alternate history genre and even uchoronie genre. When comparing ‘The Man in the High Castle’ story’s philosophical intricacies, literary quality and the intellectual depth, with how too wide and simple the alternate history genre seems to be, it does not seem appropriate. Winthrope Young said that this Philip K. Dick work piece outranks many other pieces that are considered alternate history (Mountfort, 2016, 301). The main argument has to do with Dick’s concept of time and the multiverse. According to Mountfort (2016), Heath Massey mention that “Dick’s idea of a temporal multiverse is, like eternal recurrence, more of a speculative hypothesis than a theory about the world” (p. 305). The Man in the High Castleview of time are not at all linear or casual, it actually breaks away from these basic alternate history genre elements, Dick’s notion of history is more synchronic (p. 301). Dick himself state that “If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others” (1977). (Mountfort, 2016, 305). He takes the idea of the “multiverse” really seriously, he even frames the novel in the context of “possible time dysfunctions” in one of his letter (1975).

References:

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies. 

Mountfort, P. (2018). Science fictional doubles: Technologization of the doppelganger and sinister science in serial science fiction TV. Journal of Science & Popular Culture, 1(1) 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1386/jspc.1.1.59_1

W10 

2. What distinctions are there between alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie genres?

Paul K.Alkon defines “essay or narratives exploring the consequences of an imagined divergence from specific historical events”(Alternate” 68). Mountford (2016) grieves “postmodern form of alternative history”. 

High Castle’s setting up a kind of play between the author and his protagonist. Although the acknowledgement of this different part of technique and patterning device in the novel. “Critics have praised High Castel as a landmark example of the uchronie or alternative history genre” (Mountford, 2016). Uchronie is the French term for alternative histories genre. It is “emphasizes less a causal or diachronic notion of history and more a synchronic or polyphonous one” (Mountford, 2016). “the postmodern alternate history tends to foreground historical chaos” Ramson (2010. Alternative history, postmodern alternative and uchronie are all the same under the specific literature. The genre alternative is seen over different of time through history. “all historical” is focused as an analysis of many scholarly or as a formative example of alternative history, in France it is called as uchronie. Uchronie is “less a casual of diachronic notion of history and more a synchronic or polyphnous one” (Mountfort, 2016). “Amy Ransom argues that critics discussing alternate history (AH) have often neglected to distinguish among the more conventional forms, which are underpinned by a linear, causal, or diachronic view of time, and the more synchronic view implicit in the French term for the genre, uchronie”(Mountfort,2016). Amy Ransom believed that alternative history (AH) have often forgotten to recognise among the form of conversation, which is underpinned casual, view of time “diachronic”, “synchronic” perspective implicit in the French term for the genre, uchronie (Mountfort, 2016). 

I Ching provide the different between the synchronic and diachronic notion of simultaneity or “meaning coincidence” is contrary to the western views of causality. Uchrnie emphasizes the diachronic idea of history and a synchronic or polyphonously one. 

I Ching is an element of chance and is existed in different realities (Mountford. 2016). There is a hypothesis that other universities exist. Therefore, “The Man in the High Castle” I Ching device literally figure the stylistic and philosophical dimension of it. Oracle discuss a core around which novel is real or fake world binary. “This scenario represents an identified subgenre within the uchronie genre” (Mountfort, 2016). I Ching inspired and write The Man in the High Castle was in ancient time. Dick’s novel wrote it from the main plot and explored more to the readers a postmodern fiction of the texts. 

Alternative history, postmodern alternative history and uchronie genre are in a different alternative world where the fate of characters in the text are possible in multiple scenarios. I Ching based on the belief that other possibilities can happen in an alternative existence world, and characters can be different in the different text depending on the world of novel scenarios, and it can change overtimes. The many share some the same definition or meaning, but they can be different through time and in alternative world theory. 

References:

Ransom, A. J. (2010). Warping time: alternate history, historical fantasy, and the postmodern uchronie quebecoise. Extrapolation, 51(2), 258+

Mountfort , P. (2016) The I Ching and Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle SF-TH Inc

1. What distinctions are there between alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie genres? 

The concept of “alternative” history is perceived as the bases of subgenre of works such as  literary fiction, science fiction, or historical fiction, The foundational key of this genre is that the idea of alternate histories is one that is of a science fiction genre. These ideas have revolved around the reason that a few occasions we know about didn’t have a similar result as our reality, the outcome being an altogether extraordinary world (Hellekson, 2000, p. 248). This genre may likewise incorporate other sci-fi components like time travel or equal universes that go about as their own other narratives that exist close by one another. There are a few ways to deal with such accounts that can be recognized from each other.Alternative history is basically interwoven so intently that it can’t be talked about separated from crossing time, time parting that it is recognized from numerous points of view these include uchronie, alternate history as well as postmodern history.  Out of all of these alternate histories is the one that is the most to the point genre in comparison to all of the other types of alternate histories that are present. This is more or so due to one specific main distinction between this and the other genres of histories and this distinction is that in terms of perspective this is more of a linear flowing. This is also followed by the fact that it is what can be seen as a diachronic view. This simply just means that it is a consistent line of events through the events of history. Applying this to the genre of history the line may be modified some place along the line which influences everything after so it tends to be handily changed. Philip K Dick’s “The Man In the High Castle” distributed in 1962 in research (Mountfort, 2016) recognizes the three classes.

High Castle is one of the most notable of every single elective history and is one of the most famous subjects in the entire field of history. Likewise, The Man in the High Castle was roused by I Ching, an antiquated Chinese scholarly means of advice additionally referred to basically as the content of divination, or the Book of Changes. It rises above the philosophical complexities of the story, given that the Nazi success World War II. In any case, numerous sentiments are separated relying upon whether they are seen from a diachronic or synchronic point of view in the novel. That being said, according to (Ramson, 2010, p. 263) is “the postmodern alternate history tends to foreground historical chaos.” The idea of postmodern alternate history additionally predominately utilizes a synchronic perspective on the format of how time is viewed. In the end there is finally the theme of uchronie. This is a french term used for the alternate means of the histories and genres. Relatively the specific point of distinction is that it usually “emphasizes less a causal or diachronic notion of history and more a synchronic or polyphonous one” (Mountfort, 2016, p. 288). This perspective on history is through a synchronic view, that also recommends occasions of certain events that happen since the beginning are their crossroads in history as restricted to the diachronic view which was a solitary line of direct happenings of an event. These individual series of events may exist together close to one another and they are every one of the aspects of a piece. It shares a few similarities to the numerous universes hypothesis, which sets that all results of quantum estimations occurred in a different universe or universe.

References:

Dick, P. (1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.

Hellekson, K. (2000). Towards a Taxonomy of the Alternate History Genre. Extrapolation.

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. SF-TH Inc.

Ransom, A. (2010). Warping Time: Alternate History, Historical Fantasy, and the Postmodern Uchronie Québécoise. Extrapolation.

2. What distinctions are there between alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie genres?

Under the genre of science fiction as literary subgenres, alternate history, postmodern history and uchronie genres are literary storylines built around the hypothesis of alternate worlds or universes that exist simultaneously. The proposition can be linked to original theories of many world interpretations and universal wavefunction proposed by Hugh Everett (1957); these theories explain the simultaneous existence of all possible states. The subgenres also follow the theory of infinite number of universes proposed by David Deutsch (2011) and a paradox in quantum physics called Schrödinger’s cat put forth by physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1935). In terms of these genres, a certain event in history would take place differently which results in the creation of an alternate timeline of events, temporally and spatially. According to Mountfort (2016), uchronie genres are categorised into three distinctions, those being ‘pure chronie’, ‘plural chronia’ and ‘infinite chronia’; a singular alternate world exists in the first, the second consists of the existence of an alternate world in parallel, and the third is the existence of even, infinite parallel worlds. To readers it is a factor of curiosity wherein alternate possibilities are imagined and questioned as events continue to produce a distinct timeline; in layman’s terms, it is the ‘what if’ factor in literary fiction (Wired, 2011).

Man In The High Castle (MITHC) written by Philip K. Dick  is regarded as a classic example of alternate history in literature. In Dick’s work it is considered synchronic rather than diachronic; the storyline is inspired by I Ching, or the Book of Changes, which is an ancient Chinese literary device (Mountfort, 2016). Also regarded as a prime example of the uchronie genre, the storyline of MITHC narrates a world where Nazi Germany and Japan won World War II, and illustrates post 1962 the altered reality of the United States and Pacific West Coast if those were usurped by the Japanese and Atlantic East Coast under German capture (Mountfort, 2016). Characters in I Ching use the oracle book to determine their following courses of action, which implies a new construct of time broken from conventional understanding (Mountfort, 2016). To explain this synchronic perspective observed in MITHC, scholar Carl Jung attempt to elaborate on the concept of synchronicity which involves certain events in history being altered (Mountfort, 2016). Jung asserts the concept of synchronicity to be an ‘acausal connecting principle’.

The uchronie genre follows a linear timeline of event but heavily consists of lack of consistency in events; this is in close link to the many worlds interpretation which explains similarities that occur alongside parallel worlds that exist but have no direct relationship or a single string of cause (Mountfort, 2016). In simple words, all events occurring in one world or universe have or will have occurred in another or possibly multiverses. Though slightly remote, contemporary examples in science fiction films that play with theories in quantum physics and the whole premise of alternate history are Interstellar, Back to the Future series, and Men in Black series just to name a few.

In conclusion, all three genres consist of alternate world or worlds that coexist but events in their timeline are altered and in result, alter the future. Synchronic and diachronic perspectives are what distinguish these genres, along with the unconventional factor of temporal and spatial alternatives.

References

Dick, P. (1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. SF-TH Inc

Mountfort, P. (2020). Week 10: The Man in the High Castle, uchronie and the I Ching. PowerPoint.

Wired (2011). The ‘If’ Moment: A Brief History of Alternate Histories. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2011/05/alternate-histories/

Philip K. Dicks novel The Man In The High Castle (1962) is classified to be his breakthrough piece of work and has been  hugely critically acclaimed in the realm of alternate history genres. The premise of the novel is the alternate historical situation which would have occurred if Germany would have won the second world war, and Nazi power were to have ruled  the world. The story is set in America in the 1960’s and shows the East coast under Nazi, and the West coast under Japanese occupation. The central plot device relies on the characters periodically using the Chinese oracle, the I Ching.

“The I Ching has existed for thousands of years as a philosophical taxonomy of the universe, a guide to an ethical life, a manual for rulers, and an oracle of ones personal future and the future of the state.” (Eliot Weinberger)  While writing the novel Philip K. Dick also used the I Ching, to help guide the events of the story and determine the pattern of decision making. This established an interesting metaphysical dynamic between the author and the protagonists, as the oracle harbors existence within the authors reality and the fictional reality of the protagonists. The use of the oracle lays down a philosophical foundation which branches out into the realms of meaningful coincidence and infinite alternate realities. The Man In The High Castle transcends beyond the boundaries of causality and linear chronological storytelling, and enters the realm of postmodern fiction. Because of the novels philosophical complexities, the constraints of genre fiction do not apply to it, and the bounds of literature are challenged. The concept of many worlds interpretation can be applied to way the oracle summons many different realities and this crosses into the study of quantum physics.

The genre of The Man In The High Caste has been debated, mainly because of how complex and philosophically articulate the novel actually is. Because it portrays and alternate historical setting, it is easy to reduce the novel to simply be alternate history, but because of the philosophical intricacies and the intellectual depth, the genre of alternate history is too narrow to fit the extensive and ever widening expanse of The Man In The High Castle. It would be more accurate to label the novel as postmodern alternate history, as it still possesses the basic premise of portraying a world in an alternate historical setting, but breaks away from causality and the more traditional, diachronic view of time. Postmodern alternate history uses a synchronic view of time and applies theories of postmodern relativism to the complexities of the story. It shows a  multiple coexistence of factors or facts and establishes a web of interrelationships, which allows for a more complicated plot structure. Dick’s notion of history is certainly synchronic rather than diachronic, in the terms of Jameson’s analysis, both in his evocation of a web of interrelationships and in his sense that the profusion of possible realities could radically undermine our sense of the real. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a better summary of High Castle’s philosophical implications. (Mountfort, p.:301)

Another defining feature which makes the novel postmodern is the importance of the I Ching and other eastern influences. By implementing a metaphysical plot device which connects to eastern beliefs such as Taoism, the philosophical and spiritual roots of the novel moves away from western norms and wishes to intellectually expand the readers perception of not just reality, but of cultural views as well.

References:

Weiberger, E. (2016) What is the I Ching? https://www.chinafile.com/library/nyrb-china-archive/what-i-ching

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. SF-TH Inc. 

Week 10 SCIFI/ALT HISTORY  

What distinctions are there between alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie genres? 

This is an over-simplification of the science behind parallel worlds. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a physicist studying the quantum level to understand that particles at the sub-atomic level can act as particles and waves (Clark, 2020). The two major schools of Interpretation of quantum physics is “The Copenhagen Interpretation” and “The Many Worlds Interpretation.” 

According to The Copenhagen Interpretation by Niels Bohr, all quantum particles exist in all its possible states at once and is called its wave function. The state of an object existing in all its possible states at once is called its superposition. Observation breaks an object’s superposition and essentially forces the object to choose one state from its wave function and give away its probable position. (Clark, 2020). 

The Many Worlds Interpretation by Hugh Everett agreed with Niels Bohr except when we measure a quantum object it does not force it into one comprehensible state or another instead it causes an actual split in the universe. The universe is literally duplicated, splitting into one universe for each possible outcome from the measurement and are totally separate from each other (Clark, 2020).  

Stories in an alternate history revolve around the basic premise that some event in the past did not occur as we know it did, and thus the present has changed. The alternate history as a genre speculates about such topics as the nature of time and linearity, the past link to the present, the present link to the future, and the role of individuals in the construction of history making. Alternate histories question the nature of history and causality; they question accepted notions of time and space; they rupture linear movement; and they make readers rethink their world and how it has become what it is. 

We experience time to run in one direction and history follows in terms of human affairs (Mountford, 2020). The alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie is a subgenre of sci-fi, history or literary fiction that concerns itself with history’s turning out differently than what we know to be true – the what if? – scenario or Many World Interpretation.  Synchronic is concerned with change at a specific point in time in contrast to Diachronic which is change across time. 

Phillip K. Dicks The Man in the High Castle (1962) is a landmark example of the uchronie or alternate history genre (Mountford, 2020). Here Dick creates a world in which Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan have won World War II and these two superpowers carve up the world between themselves. The story is set in 1962, 15 years after Germany and Japan have won WWII, Dick explores what the Pacific West Coast of the United States would be like if occupied by the Japanese, the Atlantic East Coast by the Germans and the Rocky Mountain States in-between as a quasi-free neutral buffer zone.    

Dick uses the “I Ching” or “Book of Changes” extensively as an oracle to develop and divine outcomes for his book as well as helping characters within the story to determine their next course of action (Mountfort, 2016). The work is, therefore, clearly based on a cyclical rather than linear notion of time, in that archetypes of key, formative events or situations are seen to repeat themselves through recurrent patterns of change. Thus, the view of history and time implicit in the I Ching is not only cyclical but synchronistic (Mountford, 2020). 

Amy Ransom argues that critics discussing alternate history (AH) have often neglected to distinguish among the more conventional forms, which are underpinned by a linear, causal, or “diachronic” view of time, and the more “synchronic” view implicit in the French term for the genre, uchronie. She posits the alternative phrase “postmodern alternate history” (Mountford, 2020). The distinctions between each term requires some understanding of how things change over time. 

REFERENCES  

Clark, J. (2020). Do Parallel Universes Really Exist? Retrieved from https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/parallel-universe.htm 

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. SF-TH Inc. 

Mountfort, P. (2020). Week 10: The Man in the High Castle, uchronie and the I Ching. PowerPoint Part 1 and 2. 

On what grounds does Mountfort (2018) dispute Williams’ (1990) view that the I Ching does not figure in the novel aside from a few oracle consultations? 

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick is an alternate history novel presenting a world where Germany and Japan have won World War Two. Featuring throughout the novel is the I Ching or Book of Changes – a Chinese oracle or divination text that help the characters determine their next course of action. Mountfort (2016) disputes the view of Williams (1990) that the I Ching does not figure in the novel aside from a few oracle consultations, arguing that the I Ching is a central plot device that underlies the novel’s construction and philosophy. 

Philip K. Dick consulted the I Ching to help him write and develop The Man in the High Castle (MHC) (Mountfort, 2016). He posed questions to the oracle during crucial junctures of his writing, such as what would happen to his characters, how they should behave, and how the plot should move forward. Mountfort (2016) describes this as a metafictional discussion between the author and the protagonists and therefore the reader and the text. This is because Dick’s use of the oracle as a deciding factor for his next move as a writer mirrors his characters’ use of the oracle to decide how they will proceed in their lives. 

Williams’ view of the I Ching in relation to MHC is that the novel’s plot does not come from I Ching readings directly, and that it only participates in the novel when the characters are consulting it (Williams, 1990). In other words, Williams’ view is that the I Ching is a feature of the plot rather than a driving force of the philosophy behind it. Mountfort (2016) disputes this view and argues that the I Ching underpins the entire fabric of the novel. 

For example, the I Ching provides the philosophical foundation of the novel, particularly the concept of synchronicity (Mountfort, 2016). This is described as events being meaningful coincidences where they have no causal relationship but are still purposefully related (Tarnas, 2006). Synchronic philosophy is evident in each major character using the I Ching to guide their next course of action. Mountfort (2016) argues that there are twelve instances of oracular consultations that take place in the novel, each revealing patterns that mirror each other. For example, four of the twelve consultations involve characters Frank Frink and Mr. Tagomi consulting the oracle twice and in a similar pattern (Mountfort, 2016). Their first question (respectively) is about meeting someone and how to go about a delicate interpersonal situation, in Frink’s case with his boss Wyndham Matson, and in Tagomi’s case with obtaining a gift for an important visitor from Robert Childan (Mountfort, 2016). The answers to their second questions are both concerned with the inner nature of a person rather than what they outwardly appear to be, in Frink’s case his ex-wife and in Tagomi’s case his business contact (Mountfort, 2016). What’s significant about this is that Frink and Tagomi’s paths intersect towards the end of the novel, without either character having met each other (Mountfort, 2016). Tagomi ultimately saves Frink from being surrendered to the Nazis, thereby intimately connecting the two characters while they each have no idea of the impact they’ve had on each other’s lives (Lison, 2014). This is integral to the philosophy of the I Ching as the two characters are meaningfully connected as their fates interlock together (Mountfort, 2016).  

Lison (2014) argues that Frink and Tagomi’s storyline is predicted by the I Ching. This is because when Frink consults the oracle as to whether or not his jewelry business will succeed, he receives a mixed reply where it says the business will bring good fortune, but also warns of a future catastrophe unconnected to the jewelry business (Lison, 2014). This refers to the destruction of Japan due to Operation Dandelion, which Frink is unaware of. Lison (2014) argues that the oracle passes favorable judgement on Frink’s business while simultaneously indicating that it is dwarfed by a larger concern. They argue that this mirrors the narrative structure of the novel, in which small moments of favor, such as Mr. Tagomi’s act of kindness to Frink, are dwarfed by the larger concern of the characters’ reality not being real, as revealed at the end of the book (Lison, 2014). 

Another way that the I Ching is central to the construction of the novel is how it presents alternate worlds. MHC presents us with three alternate worlds – the world the novel is set in, the world presented in the novel within the novel (The Grasshopper Lies Heavy), and the world of the reader (Mountfort, 2016). This many-worlds interpretation ties in with the I Ching as they are both based on the element of chance, suggesting that alternative possibilities in different realities always exist (Mountfort, 2016). The fate of each character is decided by a text in which multiple scenarios are possible. Again, this is mirrored by the multiple universes within the novel. Even the ambiguous ending of the novel emphasizes how there is not one reality in which the novel should end, but rather multiple possibilities as determined by the aleatory nature of the I Ching (Mountfort, 2016). 

References 

Lison, A. (2014). “The very idea of place”: Form, contingency, and Adornian volition in The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies, 41(1), 45-68. 

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies, 43(2), 287-309. https://doi:10.5621/sciefictstud.43.2.0287 

Tarnas, R. (2006). Cosmos and psyche. Plume. 

Williams, P. (1990, December). The author and the oracle. PKDS Newsletter, (25), 1-10.