Impossible Returns ─ Narratives of the Cuban Diaspora

“Soulfully researched and elegantly written, the personal and the critical converge.”—Eliana S. Rivero, author ofDiscursos desde la diaspora

“Timely and salient. In addition to tracing the trajectory of narratives of return, this study puts into relief the idea that there is no singular process of return.”—Andrea O’Reilly Herrera, author ofCuban Artists across the Diaspora: Setting the Tent against the House

“Outstanding. Lopez’s interpretation of the narratives of the emigre’s real or imagined returns to their homeland is insightful, sensitive, well documented, and informed by current debates about diasporas, exile, transnationalism, and identity.”—Jorge Duany, author of Blurred Borders: Transnational Migration between the Hispanic Caribbean and the United States

Since travel restrictions from the United States to Cuba began to ease, thousands of Cuban exiles and Cuban Americans have been able to reunite with family and visit their homeland. Yet the subject of return in the Cuban diaspora remains understudied.

In this one-of-a-kind volume, Iraida Lopez explores various narratives of return by the one-and-a-half generation—those who left Cuba as children or adolescents—and the ways in which the desire for homecoming is manifested both abroad and inside Cuba. Including memoirs, semi-autobiographical fiction, and visual arts, many of these works feature a physical arrival in Cuba while others depict a metaphorical or vicarious experience through fictional characters or childhood reminiscences.Impossible Returns ends by looking at how Cubans still living on the island depict returning emigres in their own narratives, which have evolved from exclusionary to accommodating.

Through a critical reading of works by artists and writers like Maria Brito, Carlos Eire, Cristina Garcia, Ana Mendieta, Gustavo Perez Firmat, and Achy Obejas, Lopez highlights the affective ties as well as the tensions underlying the relationship between emigres and their native country.

Iraida H. Lopez is professor of Spanish and Latino/a and Latin American studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey.