[Wilson’s] guilt is the most affecting, visceral aspect of the book, and it kept me turning the pages… I see why he wants to make amends, find kinship with the land. But, in the Enshittocene, trading utility for futility is a form of resistance.
Walking the Bypass
Marchez sur les bords d’une autoroute et découvrez comment un simple pas peut révéler l’histoire coloniale d’un territoire.
Reflections from the lone traveller for whom a highway was never the intended destination
Walking the Bypass recounts Ken Wilson's singular experience of walking alongside the decidedly pedestrian-unfriendly Regina Bypass, all while situating the highway within the ongoing history of settler colonialism in southern Saskatchewan.
Through a series of ambitious and unconventional walks, Wilson sets out to understand the arrival and significance of the new (and politically contentious) highway encircling Saskatchewan's capital as well as the Global Transportation Hub, a sprawling warehouse park the Bypass was intended to serve. He offers a new perspective on these heavily travelled yet untrodden spaces in a region dominated by industrial agriculture and high-speed transportation. Reflecting on the profound transformations to the land since the arrival of settlers in the 1880s, he wonders whether it's possible to form a connection with the land through walking-even on the gravelly edge of the freeway.
In vivid and sincere prose that captures the thoughts of a man trudging along the roadside, Walking the Bypass explores how walking can transform non-places into places and enable settlers to forge a relationship with the land around them.
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Walking the Bypass recounts Ken Wilson's singular experience of walking alongside the decidedly pedestrian-unfriendly Regina Bypass, all while situating the highway within the ongoing history of settler colonialism in southern Saskatchewan.
Through a series of ambitious and unconventional walks, Wilson sets out to understand the arrival and significance of the new (and politically contentious) highway encircling Saskatchewan's capital as well as the Global Transportation Hub, a sprawling warehouse park the Bypass was intended to serve. He offers a new perspective on these heavily travelled yet untrodden spaces in a region dominated by industrial agriculture and high-speed transportation. Reflecting on the profound transformations to the land since the arrival of settlers in the 1880s, he wonders whether it's possible to form a connection with the land through walking-even on the gravelly edge of the freeway.
In vivid and sincere prose that captures the thoughts of a man trudging along the roadside, Walking the Bypass explores how walking can transform non-places into places and enable settlers to forge a relationship with the land around them.
shield_question Frequently Asked Questions
Walking the Bypass offre une expérience de lecture immersive, mêlant récit de voyage, réflexion historique et questionnement sur notre rapport à la terre. Ken Wilson, en arpentant les abords de l’autoroute Regina Bypass, transforme un espace banal en un lieu de mémoire et de prise de conscience. Ce livre invite à repenser notre place en tant que colons ou descendants de colons sur des territoires marqués par l’histoire indigène.
Le livre explore plusieurs thèmes centraux : la marche comme acte de résistance et de connexion, l’impact du colonialisme sur les paysages et les peuples autochtones, la transformation des espaces naturels en zones industrielles, et la quête d’un lien authentique avec la terre. Il interroge aussi la notion de « non-lieu » et comment la marche peut le réinvestir de sens.
Ce livre s’adresse aux amateurs de récits de voyage, aux passionnés d’histoire et de géographie humaine, ainsi qu’à tous ceux qui s’intéressent aux questions de décolonisation et de relation à l’environnement. Il plaira aussi aux lecteurs en quête de textes introspectifs, mêlant prose poétique et analyse sociale.
Vous pourrez interroger le smartbook sur les itinéraires précis empruntés par Ken Wilson, les enjeux historiques et politiques du Regina Bypass, les concepts de décolonisation et de relation à la terre, ou encore sur les réflexions personnelles de l’auteur concernant la marche et l’appartenance à un territoire. Le smartbook permet aussi d’approfondir les références culturelles et littéraires évoquées dans l’ouvrage.
newsmode Revue de presse
Walking the Bypass is a redemptive journey through some of the least redeeming landscapes an urban walker might visit. Part of what makes the book compelling is how well its style matches its subject.
Author Ken Wilson has used his expertise in taking pilgrimage walks as a way to connect with land, people and place to learn about the past and present of the city-encircling Regina Bypass. Walking the Bypass is a map to understanding the spaces we live in, even 'non-spaces' like bypasses.
True to the Indigenous counsel he received, even though he generally avoids the spiritual, there is something sacred about his final conclusion: that the land 'waits for us to recognize that we’re its kin'. As readers we receive his epiphany by proximity. It’s a reason to be thankful for this extraordinary book.
tag Keywords
walking the bypass
ken wilson
régina bypass
saskatchewan
marche
décolonisation
colonialisme
paysage industriel
non-lieu
récit de voyage
essai littéraire
terre autochtone
treaty 4
global transportation hub
écologie
mémoire des lieux
prose poétique
canada
autoroute
réflexion historique
connexion à la terre
ruralité
urbanisation
résistance
littérature canadienne
university of regina press
2022 city of regina writing award
walking well
kin ship
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