Rewriting Apocalypse in Canadian Fiction

Traditional apocalyptic narratives highlight the drama of a chosen elect. Contemporary Canadian fiction, however, typically portrays the apocalypse from the perspective of marginalized individuals barred from Paradise, creating a distinctly anti-apocalyptic discourse. Marlene Goldman traces the history of the apocalyptic literary tradition and its key motifs in close readings of Canadian works that challenge rather than embrace apocalypse's key features. Rewriting Apocalypse in Contemporary Canadian Fiction is the first book to explore the literary, psychological, political, and cultural repercussions of the apocalypse in the fiction of Timothy Finley, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Thomas King, and Joy Kogawa. While writers from diverse nations have adopted and adapted the biblical narrative, these authors introduce particular twists to the familiar myth of the end. Goldman demonstrates that they share a marked concern with purgation of the non-elect, the loss experienced by the non-elect, and the traumatic impact of apocalyptic violence. She also analyzes apocalyptic accounts as crisis literature written in the context of the Cold War - written against the fear of total destruction.