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August 2021
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Algoma Reads Blog Archive 2017 Being an English major student means more than just reading books. One of the first things that I learned was how language could be used to construct and deconstruct meaning, to bridge gaps and create them. The relationship between language and speakers is two-fold—the closer I look and the harder I read, the more aware I become that language is using us as much as we are using it. For this reason, among many others, literature is also a study of criticism. The Canadian poet and man of letters, George Whalley, would call it “criticism as a getting to know.”
Reading Company Town was refreshing after spending a semester with the likes of Orwell’s 1984 and Gibson’s Neuromancer, which both left me with a strong, metallic aftertaste. Company Town was much lighter. Science fiction serves a purpose in the world of literature, although contested by some authors, to create thought experiments and premonitions of the future. Company Town contained hints of both 1984 and Neuromancer, but with the additive of Canadian thought. Hwa’s desire for privacy is combated by the Lynch technology, which smacks off the Orwellian “big brother.” Her life and struggle as an organic human in a society fueled by implants and augmentations to sensation and appearance is a clear response to Gibson. Without dismissing history, Ashby is commenting on the passage of the human into the post-human in a Canada that is centered on industry, the unionized worker versus the corporation, and synthetic humanity versus organic humanity. One striking difference between Ashby and Canadian writers of the past, such as Susanna Moodie, is the absence of the sublime. The closest thing readers get to this concept is Hwa’s impression of the ocean that surrounds the rigs as terrifying, endless, and oddly beautiful. The Canadian landscape is gone from Company Town, save moments where it is described in passing—this could not be a more provocative statement. Hwa’s experience moving from a union to a corporation is met with hostility on a local level. Those she worked with or for saw it as a betrayal of loyalty. This represents class struggles and the tug-of-war between nationalism and globalism; what it means to be Canadian versus what the world wants of Canada. Another critical aspect of the novel, right off the bat, is Hwa as the visible minority. A Korean-Canadian, tough-as-nails heroine who is not afraid to roundhouse the opposition, who also happens to be the pure, organic character. Not only is this inclusive of Canada’s multicultural society, but I could not help but think of Kogawa’s Obasan as a possible intertextual reference for this reason. It seems that Ashby’s decision to make Hwa a multi-cultured individual might stem from the mistreatment of minorities in the past. Company Town, while not a local favourite of the Canada Reads booklist, is most certainly a book that speaks to Canadian issues and politics. Ashby is warning of a decentralization away from our origins in the landscape and the sublime and into industry and corporation. Maybe we should listen to her. Written by: Ashton Carter |