Speculative Fictions: Contemporary Canadian Novelists and the Writing of History

Thomas M.F. Gerry is chair of the English Department at Laurentian
University and the editor of Arachne, Laurentian University’s
bilingual interdisciplinary journal of language and literature.

Wyile defines the parameters of Speculative Fictions somewhat narrowly,
excluding First Nation and French-Canadian texts, and focusing instead
on prominent (though unquestionably substantial) English-Canadian
novels. At the heart of the study is his perception that
English-Canadian fiction is becoming “less radical and more ambivalent
in its challenging of the underpinnings of empirical historiography and
the form of the traditional novel.” He offers plausible and
illuminating readings of the novels he includes, as well as an overview
of postcolonial and historiographical theory.

In reflecting on his study’s English-Canadian focus, Wyile quotes
Margaret Laurence’s 1978 contention that Canadians must “write out
of what is truly ours in the face of an overwhelming [British and
American] cultural imperialism.” He says that this advice remains
true, because “what is truly ours” is more inclusive (more
internationalized, for one thing) than what Laurence envisioned.
Speculative Fictions makes valuable contributions to the development of
Canadian literature.