A Study in Alternative History: Social Criticism Through the Lens of Uchronia in Keith Roberts’ Pavane

Abstract

We often question how, our present would diverge if events in our past –or further behind in history– had occurred differently, leading to an altered outcome. In short, we often question: what if? That is why alternative histories – uchronias– are so appealing: they allow us to attempt to answer that question and explore some of its limitless possibilities, as well as to consider the present from a different perspective. In Pavane (1968), Keith Roberts reimagines a world in which, in 1588, the Spanish Armada succeeds in conquering Britain after the assassination of Elizabeth I, resulting in the unquestionable worldwide supremacy of the Catholic Church. From that point of divergence, the author builds up an alternative present in which the ripples of that specific alteration can be felt almost 400 years later, characterised by a feudal-based society that is politically, morally, and scientifically stagnated. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse how Roberts constructs an alternative scenario following some strategies typical of the uchronian genre. Moreover, this article seeks to examine how this alternative version of history enables him to comment on, and criticise, the influence that religious fanaticism and tyrannical power have on the different sectors of the population. Thus, the analysis will study how alternative history can be employed as an interesting tool that allows us to examine, not only our past, but our present as well.