"Fatherland" by Robert Harris as an Alternative History Novel

Academic Paper from the year 2022 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1, The State School of Higher Education in Chelm, language: English, abstract: This paper analyzes an alternative novel "Fatherland" by Robert Harris. The author presents an alternative history in which Germany, under the leadership of the leader Adolf Hitler, do not lose the World War II, but are in a state of "cold" war with the Allies. After the extermination of Jews and Slavs and the normalization of political relations within the country, Adolf Hitler aims to make a historic agreement with the President of the United States.

Harris presents a vision of what might have happened if the Allies would not defeat the Third Reich. He points the way alternative history about the outcome of World War II and explores the design of the past. The considered events and alternative aspect help to understand past events, their causes and effects.

In the alternate history, the historical process compared to the branching roads reveals, in which moments of these paths diverge, in what direction and to which decisions they lead. The main vocation of alternative history is a historiosophical reflection. The simulation of the potential paths of historical development helps to understand the mechanisms of history and brings to light the causes and circumstances of the actual events and historical phenomena.