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Since its beginnings, Canadian fantastic fiction has focused on questions of national identity and through various subgenres examined Canada's role in the possible future worlds. Utopian fiction such as Frederick Philip Grove's Consider Her Ways present alternative societal and political structures.
The Dominion in 1983 is the earliest English-language work of political speculative fiction written by Ralph Centennius. This "history" of Canada from 1883 -- starts with a threatened invasion from the United States. The Storm of '92: A Grandfather's Tale Told in 1932 by W.H.C. Lawrence portrayed an "actual" invasion of Ontario; the Americans are held by Canadian militia and driven back by colonial troops from around the Empire.
Quebec separation is an issue that has concerned both French-Canadian and English-Canadian writers.
Quebec is not the only province whose separation has been discussed by fiction writers. Phyllis S. Moore in Williwaw! postulates about the separation of Newfoundland. John Ballem in The Dirty Scenario describes Alberta's separation.
Other writers have dealt with the effects of government policy on Canadian life. The anonymous House of the Gallery satirized John A. Macdonald's mania for building railways. Hugh MacLennan, in Voices in Time, suggests that the Cold War and permissiveness may lead to a fascist reaction, producing a series of oppressive right-wing bureaucracies.
Some works of Canadian fantastic fiction have taken the issue of cultural identity as their theme. In Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana, one nation that has been conquered by another has a spell cast on it that prevents the speaking or hearing of its name to make the world and Tigana's inhabitants forget the nation's existence. The novel can be seen as an allegory of Canada's own insecurity about its existence and survival as a distinct culture.
The Dirty Scenario
Ballem, John
Don Mills, Ont.: PaperJacks, 1974.
Politics, power and a continental energy policy are the background of this novel speculating on the separation of Alberta from the rest of Canada in the not-too-distant future.
The Dominion in 1983
Centennius, Ralph
Peterborough, Ont.: Toker & Company, 1883.
Published in 1883 as a pamphlet, The Dominion in 1983 predicts the state of Canada 100 years later. Presenting an optimistic view of a world without war, it prophesies "gradual but sure improvement.... No man can despair who ponders on the position of the Dominion in 1983".
Consider Her Ways
Grove, Frederick Phillip
Toronto: MacMillan, 1947.
This mock-epic allegory gives an ant's eye view of the human species and, in so doing, delivers ironic observations on political and societal mores.
From Consider Her Ways by Frederick Philip Grove ©1947, reprinted by permission of Macmillan Canada.
Tigana
Kay, Guy Gavriel
New York; Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1991.
A work of myth and fantasy in the tradition of Tolkien, this magical story tells of a beleaguered country in which even its name has been cursed and its people are struggling to overthrow their evil oppressors. Tigana is sometimes viewed as an allegory of Canada's uncertainty about its cultural identity.
The Storm of ‘92
Lawrence, W.H.C.
Toronto: Sheppard Publishing Company, 1889.
Written as an old man's memories of war between the United States and Canada -- imagined as occurring in 1892, presented from the perspective of 1932 and published in 1889, this fantasy makes some surprisingly accurate observations.
Courtesy of Sheppard Publishing Co.
Williwaw
Moore, P.S.
St. John's, Nfld.: Breakwater Books, 1978.
Offering a different slant on a segment of Canada seeking independence, Williwaw is the tale of a fight for freedom by the people of Labrador against the invaders from Quebec.
Killing Ground: The Canadian Civil War
Powe, Bruce
Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1968.
This "worst case" scenario, "war-game novel" of a civil war between Quebec and the rest of Canada is intended as a warning of what might happen if "the Quebec question" is not solved.
Cover reproduced with the permission of Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada.
Pour la patrie
Tardivel, Jules-Paul
Montréal: Hurtubise HMH, 1975.
Written in 1895 and set in the mid-twentieth century, this famous, early account of a future separate Quebec focuses on religion and nationalism. Tardivel's intent was to help Quebec become "a new France whose mission it will be to continue...the work of Christian civilization that old France pursued for...many hundreds of years".
Cover reproduced with the permission of Éditions Hurtubise HMH Ltée.
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Copyright. The National Library of Canada. (Revised: 1995-06-17)