In 1992, a group of activists concerned about the destruction of the biosphere and economic inequalities met in Montreal, determined to take action. The proposed projects are not lacking in ambition. The members of what will become the Institute for an Ecosociety dream of creating a publishing house, organizing conferences, opening a summer university… What they want is to change the world.
“They quickly realized that making books – an essential tool for raising awareness among the general public – was already a huge job,” laughs Élodie Comtois, commercial director at Écosociété editions.
30 years ago, in January 1993, this very young house published its first collective work, For a country without an armyfollowed the same year by seven other titles, including A company to redoby Murray Bookchin, setting an important milestone in the consolidation of committed literature in Quebec.
Since then, Éditions Écosociété has built an impressive catalog of works, all displaying a clear desire to inform the public about major ecological issues and their intrinsic links with economic, social and political issues; a mission that, year after year, decade after decade, has lost none of its relevance.
Open the way
Making committed literature, fighting to change things, often means agreeing to move forward at a snail’s pace, slowed down by an immense headwind called the status quo. Fortunately, literature does not lack dreamers…
At the beginning of the millennium, others followed in Ecosociety’s footsteps, moved by the same sense of urgency, eager to fill a gap, to think of the world differently, with new voices, new ideas, new forms.
Ten years after Écosociété, in 2003, Rodney Saint-Éloi in turn founded Mémoire d’encrier in the hope “to give voice to the silent, to vary our collective imaginations, to open up a space for dialogue for a plural and diversified future “.
Since then, Quebec and the world have had access to the unforgettable voices of Joséphine Bacon, Emmelie Prophète, Jacques Roumain, Naomi Fontaine, Blaise Ndala and many others. “When someone you’re not used to hearing speaks, when you read their story, you can no longer deny their humanity. We understood it. This is our whole mission”, specifies the publisher and writer.
At the same time, the writer Lise Demers took a strong position against censorship and conformism by creating the Semaphore editions. With as first title The weight of ordinary things (2003), a novel about power and greed, the editor already indicated the tone that the young house would take, ready to open the way to texts that do not immediately achieve consensus.
“Even today, we want to give to read literary works of a political, social or ethical nature, which relate to subjects rarely treated, sometimes taboo, or more classic, but presented under a new point of view, in an exploded form and innovative,” explains Lise Demers. With 79 works, the catalog of Semaphore editions includes several bold proposals, including The jeremiads (2009) by Simon Boulérice, Hello mute (2016) by France Martineau and Pieces of memory (2021) by poet-collagist Mathieu Dubé.
One step forward, three steps back
The works chosen to launch these anniversary programs testify both to the progress made and to that which remains to be done.
Thus, the Semaphore editions celebrate their 20th anniversary with a reissue of their very first novel, The weight of ordinary things, reaffirming his critical discourse on the hypocrisy of Quebec politicians and intellectuals, and on the crossroads taken by censorship. “The book is, within a few commas, identical to the original version. Readers will be able to judge its relevance today. What is certain is that it is still representative of the house and the direction we want to take,” says Lise Demers about her novel.
Éditions Mémoire d’encrier, for their part, have chosen to open their season with the French translation of the book-monument The racial contract, by Charles W. Mills. Published in the United States in 1997, this essay, which challenges the universalist claims of Western political philosophy, postulates that the social contract of liberal societies is based instead on a racial contract, which creates the foundations of a racist and discriminatory society. based on white supremacy.
“There are so many missteps in literature, so many books and authors that don’t reach us. It takes a lot of resources to translate an essay like this, because the word “racism” still creates unease. Charles W. Mills raises questions that are far from settled: Why has this story been kept from us? Why aren’t we taught our slavery past? When a politician does not want to say the word “systemic”, ignorance is exploited. If people read this book, they will understand where the system we have forged comes from and why we have to work together to destroy it, ”insists Rodney Saint-Éloi.
At Écosociété, the thirtieth anniversary is the occasion to launch Radar, a brand new collection of essays dedicated to teenagers. The first two books Engage in friendshipby Camille Toffoli, and GAFAM, the five-headed monsterby Philippe Gendreau, are fantastic playful and dynamic guides for understanding the political and identity role of friendships and for intelligently navigating the Web.
“Today’s young people are aware of the issues facing society and the challenges they will have to meet,” says publisher Pauline Gagnon. We consulted them to find out the subjects that interested them. They spoke to us about the environment, LGBTQ+ communities, racism, immigration, interpersonal relationships. We have the responsibility to help them, to accompany them in their reflection, to give them the tools to make them adults who will want to change the world. »
For the rest of the world
This gaze turned towards youth testifies to a certain optimism. “When you are an activist, you have no choice but to have a minimum of hope. This is the whole idea behind Écosociété and the Radar collection; help readers to mobilize, to find drivers of action so that injustices and the climate crisis are not factors of exhaustion or withdrawal,” says Élodie Comtois.
At Mémoire d’encrier, we also persist in believing that a better world is possible. “I dream of a society with fewer blind spots, less ignorance about ourselves as human beings. A world anchored in living together where the question of identity and race will not take up all the space. A world where I won’t need to write anymore Racists have never seen the sea (2021), where a racialized writer does not have to write and be recognized for his skin color, but for his elegance, his way of thinking and of existing,” concludes Rodney Saint-Éloi.