Imagining American Authoritarianisms: Alternate History and the Fragility of Democracy in Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America

Abstract

Counterfactual literature has become a popular genre that gives a scenario for an alternate history with vital divergent points and missed chances. Different writers used this genre after World War II to reflect on how the world would be different if the war did not happen or if the Allies lost it. Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America (2004) envisions a version of America that becomes an ally of Hitler’s Germany under the administration of Charles Lindbergh. The author changes the American History by showing Lindbergh as leader of America during the War instead of Roosevelt. This change leads to different outcomes on national levels, especially with regards to the Jewish people and other races that are persecuted by Nazism. Through the alternate history, this paper shows the ramifications of racism and how it can lead the society to slip into hatred and chaos.   

What if the world were somehow different?’ This question is at the centre of both science fiction and the alternate history. Answering this question in fictive texts creates science fiction or other fantastic texts, including fantasy and magic realism. One important point I wish to stress is that the alternate history is a sub-genre of the genre of science fiction, which is itself a sub-genre of fantastic  .