Rodney Saint-Eloi, Mémoire d'Encrier and the Utopia of 'Living-Together'

In his introduction to The Social Work of Narrative: Human Rights and the Cultural Imaginary, Gareth Griffiths states that one of the underlying principles of the book “is that imaginative narration, the telling of stories, the transformation of the world by the act of imagining it and speaking it forth, is one of the most powerful tools that people can employ in searching for justice or in confronting and overcoming oppression.” This article explores Griffiths’s claim through the work of Haitian writer Rodney Saint-Éloi. His dual roles as writer and publisher offer concrete examples of the transformative power of words and the way in which literature can inspire hope in those affected by oppression, draw people together, and imagine new worlds.