From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our - Chris J. Young

64. Hugh Hood (1928-2000). You Can’t Get There from Here. [Ottawa: Oberon
Press, 1972].
Set in the imaginary African state of Leoafrica (which had recently achieved independence from
U.N. trusteeship) You Can’t Get There from Here invites the reader to see how two races with different
languages and customs can transform a nation into a menacing landscape where the threat of
separation and civil war become real. With both tribes in Leoafrica suspicious of one another, the
inland tribe declares itself an independent republic, resulting in riots and chaos across the country.
Parodying the complicated cultural and linguistic landscape of Canada, the novel captures the
deep-seated historical differences in Canada, mirrored in the fictional Leoafrica, leaving the reader
to speculate whether or not the cataclysmic events of Leoafrica could befall this nation.
65. Matt Cohen (1942–). The Colours of War. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,
1977.
The Colours of War captures the enormous potential for oppression inherent in the power of any
government. Set in an alternative past to the events of the October Crisis of 1970, the novel
follows the narrator, Theodore Beam, through a first-hand experience of a revolutionary resistance
movement that is moving slowly across the country. As the novel progresses it becomes apparent
that the government does not demand the loyalty of the people, only their obedience; and as the
Government devolves further and further into totalitarianism, the reader is left wondering what
might have happened in the aftermath of October 1970, and just how much more the Government
could have tightened its grip on the population. Reflecting on the novel’s events, Theodore comes to
realize that Canada is no longer a country ‘set apart from the rest of the world’.
66. William Weintraub (1926–). The Underdogs. Toronto: McCelland and
Stewart, 1979.
Published nine years after the October Crisis of 1970, The Underdogs imagines a future socialist
Republic of Québec. Set twenty years after separation, the once mighty Anglophones of Montréal
have become the underdogs in the Republic. Because of the Linguistic Purity Laws, Englishspeakers
are the poorest members of society; not even an English muffin can be purchased
without a government permit. Anglophones’ every move is watched by the Language Police, the
Recreation Police, the Agricultural Police, and the Veterinary Police to make sure Québec culture
and the French language are maintained pure. A militant separatist group forms, called the ‘Anglo
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