Rebecca Weeks

Dr Rebecca Weeks is a lecturer in the Bachelor of Art and Design Programme at Media Design School in Auckland, New Zealand.  Rebecca received her PhD from the University of Auckland in 2017 and was the recipient of the Dame Joan Metge Post-Doctoral Research Award in 2018. Her thesis, ‘History by HBO: Rendering the American Past in Serial Drama,’ explored the potential of long-form drama series as a vehicle for history. She is currently revising her thesis for publication and researching the relationship between history and fiction in sci-fi and horror programming.  

WHAT IF?: EXPERIMENTAL HISTORY ON TELEVISION

Alternate history novels—stories set in worlds where the path of history diverges from our own—have become increasingly popular since the 1960s and have recently begun to appear in the form of popular and controversial TV serials. Historians tend to consider such texts “inherently presentist,” providing a window onto how society at the time of release viewed the past. But, beyond viewing alternate histories as a valuable primary source, how do they actually engage with history? Focusing on The Man in the High Castle (2015–2019) this paper explores the potential of alternate history TV serials to stimulate “historical consciousness.” The Amazon series, based loosely on a Philip K. Dick novel, establishes an alternate reality where the Axis powers won World War Two and the United States has been split into three separate zones. This science fiction premise does not detract from the show’s ability to engage with history; rather, it enhances it. Transporting an examination of the Nazi regime to an unfamiliar time and place encourages viewers to think historically as they are forced to negotiate between what they already know about this familiar subject and the unconventional interpretation on screen.