Borderlands traces some of the ways in which border metaphors pervade Canadian consciousness. Addressing a variety of social issues - among them, separatism, marginalization, multiculturalism, colonial attitudes, national policies, language, and the influence of the United States - W. H. New shows how the border, though spatial in character, is political in intent and effect.

Comprising three essays, Borderlands moves from a general survey of the metaphor of the border, to a close examination of the significance of the US border in Canadian cultural history, finishing with a detailed comparison of two literary texts from the Pacific Northwest, each of which is shaped by the border concerns of the culture it represents.