uchronia

English

Etymology

From French uchronie, formed (after utopia) from Ancient Greek οὐ (ou, “not”) +‎ Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos, “time”) +‎ -ia.

Noun

uchronia

1. An idealized or fictional conception of a particular period of time, especially in the past.
   • 1987, Paul K. Alkon, Origins of Futuristic Fiction, page 127:

     Mercier's resort to uchronia, on the other hand, initiates a new paradigm for utopian literature not only by setting action in a specific future chronologically connected to our past and present but even more crucially by characterizing that future as one belonging to progress and thus linked causally if not immediately to the reader's time.

   • 2007, Andy Wood, The 1549 Rebellions and the Making of Early Modern England, page 211:

     For Portelli, uchronia comprises 'that amazing scene in which the author imagines what would have happened if a certain historical event had not taken place'.

   • 2011, Lealand B Yeager, Is the Market a Test of Truth and Beauty?, page 389:

     This uchronia actually exerted some influence in its time, converting many readers to socialism because they wanted to live in the world of Bellamy's vision.

Derived terms

• uchronian
• uchronic

Translations

Translations

• French: uchronie (fr) f
• Greek: ουχρονία (el) f (ouchronía)
• Italian: ucronia (it) f
• Portuguese: ucronia f
• Spanish: ucronía (es) f