Invention Formosa, the empire of the Great Khan and Lilliput: can 18th century fiction be counterfactual?

Abstract

'This paper proposes a new use for old descriptions of the foreign that from today's point of view cannot be considered sources of factual information. Instead of questioning how much of these reports is empirically verifiable, they are usable as counterparts to empirical scenarios in historical comparisons, provided they can be qualified as counterfactual. There are two criteria they have to met to make this possible: They may not be too far away from the empirical reality, and they must be structurally compatible to modern scientific methodology, therefore descriptive and empirically orientated. This means that fictionality and counterfactuality are not mutually exclusive or incompatible, and old accounts can be used as counterfactuals. The material for demonstration is provided by analysing the descriptions Marco Polo and Mandeville gave of the Mongolian Empire, George Psalmanazar's Formosa, and Swift's Lilliput.' (author's abstract)