Writing while facing the "diasporic rift": Haïti kenbe là! (2010) by Rodney Saint-Éloi

The first wave of Haitian migration in Quebec dates back to the 1960s, as a direct consequence of François Duvalier's dictatorial regime (1957-1971). The works published in Montreal by Haitian writers such as Anthony Phelps, Gérard Étienne and Émile Ollivier were written in a state of urgency and were strongly connected to the "duty of memory" and the necessity of bearing witness to the horrors of the Duvalier dictatorship. After the earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, some Haitian writers living in Quebec felt compelled to write in order to cope with the disaster. Soon after the publication of Dany Laferrière's text Tout bouge autour de moi (2010) the founder of the publishing house "Mémoire d'encrier" Rodney Saint-Éloi published Haïti kenbe là ! ("Haiti rise up!", 2010). In his account of the aftermath of the earthquake Saint-Éloi, who survived the disaster, reflects on his diasporic situation. The aim of this essay is to analyze the sense of belonging to two cultures and two countries, Haiti and Quebec, as it emerges from the reading of Haïti kenbe là !. In an attempt to face this feeling intensified by the disaster, Saint-Éloi finds in literary creation the only possible answer to the "inner fault" that haunts the Haitian writer living in Quebec.

Keywords: post-earthquake literature; Haitian diaspora in Québec; Rodney Saint-Éloi; disaster writing; literature of urgency