Sentence:  The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is <WSD>seen</WSD> as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32). 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To form a mental picture of.