Fictional History and True Memory

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Here is my second essay, discussing the theme of “memory” in Cristina Garcìa’s Dreaming in Cuban, it is entitled Fictional History and True Memory. Here it is:

Fictional History and True Memory

Between 1952 and 1959, Cuba was subject to the dictator Fulgencio Batista who supported U.S. business and economy to develop his own profit. All the industry was in their hands and therefore, Cuban people had no power against Batista and the U.S. In this context, the Cuban revolted against the dictator to regain, not only their freedom, but as well their collective identity. Nowadays, Cuba got rid of dictatorship and, “memory becomes an important way of uniting the past with the present” (Justin D. Edwards, 2008 p.130). In her novel Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina Garcìa presents a Cuban family who has partly emigrated to the U.S. after the Cuban revolution. In this novel, memory is a central theme conveyed through the story’s structure, historical facts opposed to that memory and Celia’s letters.

The plot line of the story is not chronological, thus showing that this book is written as if it came from memory. In fact, the story timeline and the plot line are not the same throughout the book. The plot line starts in 1972 and finishes in 1959 (“Celia’s letter” p.249), but passes by 1935 (“Celia’s letters” p.49) or 1980 during the novel. The chapters are therefore not linear because of “Celia’s letters” coming in-between them. “Celia’s letters” are the written proves of Celia’s memory. However, inside the chapters, the plot is not linear as well. For example, in the first chapter “Ocean Blue” happening in 1972, other dates such as 1952 or 1967 referring to historical events are mentioned. This is due to the memory; in order to remember something about our past, we have to do links with what happened during that time, politically, historically, socially, … Memory is not linear and so is not this novel. “The structure … is non-linear and, as such, it follows the flow of … memory” (Edwards 2008, p.131). In addition, this story is told from different points of view, such as Pilar, Celia or Lourdes. It gives an importance to individual memory, whereas the historical elements accentuate collective memory. Mixing different points of view and historical elements, this novel deals with individual and collective memory.

Historical elements are supposed to be facts and therefore non-arguable, however this novel presents an history made by the ones in power and offers a quest for truth. This novel, as Naomi Nakane’s narrative in Joy Kogawa’s novel does, “interweaves two stories, one of the past and another of the present, mixing experience and recollection, history and memory throughout” (Edwards 2008, p.134). A good example of that is on page 28, when Pilar says: “If it were up to me… in Bombay”. It continues with two rhetorical questions: “Why don’t I know anything about them? Who chooses what we should know or what’s important?” She knows the answer; it is the ones in power. It is supported by rhetorical questions in Edwards’ article as well: “What has been erased from the history of colonization? Whose memories are privileged in historical narratives? And whose perspective or point of view is foregrounded in stories about the past?” (Edwards 2008, p.136). Edwards underlines that memory can be used “to explore the complexities of truth” (Edwards 2008, p.137). It contradicts what Pilar says about her mother, with a metaphor replacing her eyes by a “distorting lens” (176). For her, this “lens” prevent her from seeing “what’s really there” (176), the truth. However, Felicia tells his son that “Imagination, like memory, can transform lies to truths” (88). With this sentence, we can understand that it is not what really happened in the past that matters, but rather how we choose to bring together the memories. The sentence “the war that killed … thousands of other blacks is only a footnote in our history book” (185) shows once again that history is written by the ones in power and the only way to know what really happened is memory.

Memory being linked with history; it can be a source of trauma for those under the power during the colonization. According to Cathy Caruth, a trauma must “be spoken in a language that is always somehow literary: a language that defies, even as it claims, our understanding” (Edwards 2008, p.136). It is interesting in Dreaming in Cuban because of Celia’s letters. In fact, the chapters of that book are intertwined with letters that Celia wrote to Gustavo from 1935 to 1959. Reading them afterwards could make them see as memories. However, on page 47 and 48, we can see that for Celia “Memory cannot be confined” (47). She thinks as well that “capturing images [is] an act of cruelty” and that “it [is] an atrocity to sell cameras at El Encanto department store [and] to imprison emotions on squares of glossy paper” (48). This is a personification of images and emotions. So, for her, we cannot fix memories, however, she can relieve them when she encounters a place that was important to her. For example, on page 43: “She imagines him swinging … and shattering her past”. Moreover, for Celia, memories can live through objects, like her pearl earrings. It is a recurrent object in the novel, but it is only on page 38 that we understand its importance: “Celia has removed her drop pearl earrings only nine times, to clean them. No one ever remembers her without them” (38). In this sentence, the pearl earrings are a marker of Celia’s identity. Through the character of Celia, we have a different approach on memory; it is strong, cannot be fixed but can be relieve through objects and places.

Having a non-linear plot line, and opposing history and memory, Dreaming in Cuban offers a mix between individual and collective memory, and presents as well a truth-seeking. It would be interesting to link memory with orality, since “oral information is ephemeral and relies on memory for its durability” (Edwards 2008, p.41). However, we need to be cautious with this theme because “memory is not always perfect; it can distort or change information” (Edwards 2008, p.41).

Bibliography

  • Edwards, Justin. “Orality.” Postcolonial Literature. Hampshire: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, 2008. Pp.40-50.
  • Edwards, Justin. “Memory.” Postcolonial Literature. Hampshire: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, 2008. Pp.129-138.

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