Critics have celebrated Gabrielle Roy's La route d'Altamont (1966) for its vivid evocation of the Canadian landscape, but its four interconnected stories also concern human engagements with landscape through various built means of transport. It thus contributes to a broader Canadian cultural discourse about transportation infrastructure. The contemporary Material Culture Studies framework, as articulated by such theorists as Stephanie White, posits that vectors of transportation, like the Trans-Canada Highway, play a performative role, shaping the experience and perceptions of those who use them. The experiences of Roy's characters confirm Jonathan Vance's claim that mechanical means of conveyance have often been heavily implicated in constructing the Canadian imaginary. In fact, such infrastructure is, in a sense, a psychological phenomenon as much as a physical one.
