Deadline: June 1, 2026 (Pacific Time)
Submission length: 7,000-8,000 words (including works cited and notes) in English or French
Guest Editors: Anna Branach-Kallas (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń) and Laura Moss (University of British Columbia)
When the revised and expanded edition of ANTIFA Comic Book: 100 years of Fascism and Antifa Movements was published in the summer of 2025, few would have been surprised about the sheer volume of content that its creator Gord Hill, of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation, had to cover in the eight years since the original version was launched.
Far-right and authoritarian political ideologies are now pervasive in many parts of the world. The last few years have seen a rise in extreme forms of nationalism, an increase in propaganda, the censorship of individual words, lists of banned books, growing militarism, the rejection of the value of diversity and inclusion, and anti-democratic movements gaining traction. Concomitantly, however, resistance is also globally prevalent. One forum for resistance is art. In this special issue, we ask how writers, critics, and artists are addressing/ countering authoritarianism in their artistic practice or how they’ve done so in the past.
We ask, what do fascist leaders and authoritarian forms of government target that we, as literary and cultural scholars, can address? Historian Timothy D. Snyder argues that “Fascism is about constructing reality by way of spectacle, by way of technology” enlisting the “dramaturgy of good and evil.” In literary studies, we are trained to critique spectacle, to spot over-worn narratives, to put pressure on binaries, and to unsettle oppositions. That is, we often think about contextualized histories, the resistant power of complex and poetic language, and the role of creativity in countering silencing. If specific words or books are banned, how do we respond? This is our wheelhouse and this is precisely where the creative humanities needs to come in.
This is not a new issue in Canada; historical works treat fascism and anti-fascism just as forcefully as contemporary ones. For instance, historian Lita-Rose Betcherman argues in The Swastika and the Maple Leaf, that “in Canada fascism was a minor but persistent theme throughout the decade of the thirties.” The subsequent anti-fascist ideas and movements of the thirties developed to counter the spread of antidemocratic forces and reactionary politics. The global anti-fascist cause of the Spanish Civil War provoked much enthusiasm and support in Canada, and had a substantial impact on Canadian literature and culture. As scholar Emily Robins Sharpe contends, “envision(ing) Canada via Spain” allowed Canadian writers such as Ted Allan, Charles Yale Harrison, and Hugh Garner to articulate their discontent and hope for “a better earth.” With the outbreak of the Second World War, Canadian fascists were interned and anti-Nazism defined mainstream politics in Canada. Yet fascism acquired new facets in North America in the post-war period. These different (anti-)fascist traditions may take on new meaning today.
This special issue of Canadian Literature will examine literary and artistic approaches to fascism and anti-fascism in Canada, moving beyond traditional understandings of these terms. We are interested in (anti-)fascist encounters in any period. What (anti-)fascist memory layers can be found in Canadian literature, film, and the visual arts? What specific responses to fascism and anti-fascism have been created in Canada? How have writers and artists reconceptualized ideas that developed in Europe and the United States? Do engagements with (anti-)fascism in English Canadian literary traditions differ from engagements in Québec? Should anti-fascism be defined as including resistance to capitalism? Can anti-colonialism and anti-racism be understood as anti-fascism? What is the potential of authoritarianism to (dis-)connect communities? Where are fascist and anti-fascist politics practiced today? Finally, how does Canadian art and culture “seek anti-fascist departures,” in the words of essayist Natasha Lennard, when confronted with “the micro-fascisms” present in everyday lives?
We invite papers of 7,000-8,000 words, in English or in French, that join us in contemplating Canadian fascist and anti-fascist literary, visual, and artistic articulations.
Topics articles might consider:
- Anti-fascist communities
- Anti-fascist entanglements and continuities
- Anti-fascist resistance: struggles and victories
- Authoritarian power
- Banned books
- Banned words (and the impact on the environment or gender politics)
- Censorship
- Disruptions to civil rights and civil liberties
- Dystopias and utopias
- Fascist histories and stories of living in them
- Fleeing authoritarian rule
- Genres of resistance (allegory, satire, speculative fiction)
- Global struggles
- Identities under censure
- Insecurity and uncertainty in fascist encounters
- Life narratives and memoirs
- Local or transnational antifascist solidarities
- On being targeted
- Political migration
- Propaganda
- Radical hope
- Rise in nationalism and strategic nationalisms
- Religion and politics
- Sexualities and genders under threat
- Threats to the rule of law
Works Cited
Betcherman, Lita-Rose. The Swastika and the Maple Leaf. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1978.
Hill, Gord. The ANTIFA Comic Book: 100 years of Fascism and Antifa Movements Revised and Expanded. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025.
Lennard, Natasha. Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Life. Verso 2019.
Sharpe, Emily Robins. Mosaic Fictions: Writing Identity in the Spanish Civil War. U of Toronto P, 2020.
Snyder, Timothy D. “Recognizing the Signs of Fascism Today: Interview with Eli Glasner.” CBC News, May 29, 2025. https://youtube.com/watch?v=7PcxC1p-Z-g. Accessed May 30, 2025.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be sent online through our Open Journal Systems (OJS) portal.
All submissions to Canadian Literature must be original, unpublished work. Essays should follow current MLA bibliographic format (MLA Handbook, 9th ed.).
Please limit images accompanying submissions to those receiving substantial attention in the article. Contributors will be required to obtain permission to reproduce images in their article and pay for any permission costs. The journal will provide a template for permission requests; such requests must be completed before publication. Please send high-quality images as separate attachments along with your article file.
Please review our full submission guidelines prior to submitting.
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