Ali Smith’s ‘Gliff’ explores language, freedom, and resistance

Ali Smith’s latest novel, ‘Gliff,’ blends dystopian fiction with fairy tales, offering a powerful meditation on language, identity, and defiance.

Illustration by Kouichi Chiba

By Novanka Laras and Adelina Indah

Gliff, by Ali Smith

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Ali Smith’s latest novel, Gliff, is a masterful blend of dystopian fiction, fairy tales, and linguistic exploration. The title itself holds layers of meaning: while a “glyph” refers to a character in writing, Gliff is the name of a horse central to the story. More than just a name, “gliff” is also defined within the book as “a substitute word for any word,” an idea that resonates deeply with Smith’s themes of language, identity, and transformation.

The novel follows two siblings, Briar and Rose, as they traverse a harsh, near-future landscape ruled by a surveillance-driven totalitarian regime. Briar, the narrator, discovers the meaning of “gliff” in an abandoned library, explaining to Rose that the word represents everything and nothing at the same time. This idea of fluidity—of meaning, of identity, of resistance—threads through the novel, mirroring Smith’s signature narrative style.

A dystopian world shaped by oppression

Smith situates Gliff in a Britain that has collapsed into authoritarianism, where individuals are labeled as “unverifiable” and stripped of their rights. The regime enforces its rule through technology, monitoring and punishing those who question authority. Dissenters are re-educated, subjected to forced labor, or simply erased. This world is built on familiar dystopian tropes, reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale or 1984, yet infused with Smith’s own unique literary playfulness.

Briar and Rose, separated from their mother, are constantly at risk of capture. Yet their youthful resilience—Rose’s imagination and Briar’s sharp curiosity—fuels their survival. Smith aligns her story with the tradition of young protagonists challenging oppressive systems, akin to the heroes of The Hunger Games and Divergent. However, she also roots Gliff in older storytelling traditions, drawing from folklore and fairy tales.

The power of language and storytelling

Throughout the novel, words hold immense power. Briar’s fascination with language—particularly polysemy, the ability of words to have multiple meanings—echoes Smith’s broader literary themes. The novel interweaves Briar’s story with fables that enrich the narrative. One tale features a woman who gives birth to a child with a horse’s head; another follows a tyrant consumed by vengeance. These mythic interludes deepen the novel’s exploration of power, transformation, and resistance.

Smith’s prose, as always, is electrifying—sharp, playful, and endlessly inventive. Her characters share her love for wordplay. When Briar and Rose meet a boy named Colon, Rose jokes, “Do you have a little brother called Semi? Or are you named after an ancestor’s intestines?” Such moments of humor punctuate the novel’s darker themes, offering glimpses of light in an otherwise grim world.

The novel also interrogates the meaning of words in the context of oppression. Briar reflects on the word “render,” which carries multiple definitions: “to extract by melting,” “a return due from a feudal tenant,” or “to cause to become.” In a society where people are reduced to laboring bodies, where even language is controlled, the act of naming—of claiming words—becomes an act of defiance.

Hope and transformation in a fractured world

Despite its dystopian setting, Gliff is not without hope. Smith constructs a world where stories still matter, where imagination can break through rigid structures. Fairy tales and dystopian fiction both serve as sources of terror and comfort. As long as the protagonists keep moving, the reader holds onto the possibility of change.

And for those left wanting more, Smith has already announced her next novel: Glyph. With Gliff, she has once again proven her ability to craft a novel that is both deeply political and profoundly personal, a book that challenges, delights, and ultimately lingers in the mind long after the last page.