Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban reflects different points of view of the history of Cuba. For instance, Lourdes has an adverse opinion of Cuba after the Revolution. At the beginning of the novel, she is an enigmatic character, but the reader understands her perspective when s/he finds out what happened to her in the past. Justin D. Edwards, in his chapter on memory in Postcolonial Literature, states that the “postcolonial writing often deals with the recollection of traumatic events” (132). Indeed, Cristina García illustrates this situation in Dreaming in Cuban through Lourdes’ callback of her unborn baby’s death and her rape. Hence, the author shows the repercussions of a traumatic event by calling back Lourdes’ memory, thus reflecting one of the perceptions on the introduction of a revolutionary government in Cuba and its consequences.

The articulation of Lourdes’ memories in the narration suggests a logical connection between the events of the past, which helps to understand the character’s motives and reactions. The plot is a disrupted narrative structured like memory. Each event is a piece of memory articulated with another one in a non-linear way. However, it seems like events of Lourdes’ memory are linked together in a logical way. In chapter 5, the reader finds out about a traumatic event that Lourdes lived through: soldiers of the revolutionary government catalyzed her miscarriage and she has been raped by one of them (García, 70-71). The reminiscence of this episode of violence appears just after the mention of the day Lourdes left Cuba (García, 69). This succession in the narration connects the two memories; as Lourdes’ aggression happened before her exile, it suggests that this traumatic event has been a motive of her exile. Moreover, just after the mention of Lourdes’ trauma, the narrator asserts that immigration is a good point in her life because it “has redefined her” (García, 73). S/he further reveals that “[s]he wants no part of Cuba, no part of its wretched carnival floats creaking with lies, no part of Cuba at all” (García, 73). The repetition of “no part” highlights Lourdes’ rejection of Cuba. This association of memories in the narration reveals that Lourdes’ rejection of her homeland is one possible consequence of her trauma.

A further consequence of Lourdes’ trauma is her impossibility to talk about this violent incident. Judith Lewis Herman argues that “a trauma is outside of language and, as a result, is unspeakable and unrepresentable” (Herman 1992 cited in: Edwards 2008: 136). Lourdes’ reaction when Jorge asks her to go to Cuba illustrates this point. She refuses her father’s proposition but she does not say why; her body reminds her of her trauma and speaks for her: “I can’t go back. It’s impossible. […] You don’t understand, Lourdes cries and searches the breeze above her. She smells the brilliantined hair, feels the scraping blade, the web of scars it left on her stomach” (García, 196). Indeed, her trauma is expressed through feelings; she “cries” which shows her pain. She also has difficulty to breathe because she “searches the breeze above her”, which means that she feels oppressed only by thinking to go back to the place of her trauma. Furthermore, Lourdes’ aggression left her with physical sequelae. She “feels” sensations related to suffering (“scraping blade”, “web of scars”), which demonstrates that, unconsciously, she associates the place of her aggression with pain. It is besides what Judith Lewis Herman claims: “a trauma is often that which is suppressed within individual’s consciousness, so traumatic material is often difficult, if not impossible to depict” (Herman 1992 cited in Edwards 2008: 136). Thus, García devised a master stroke by letting Lourdes’ body express itself against the idea of going back to Cuba.

The repercussion of Lourdes’ impossibility to talk of her trauma is that she fears that her suffering becomes forgotten. However, instead of staying passive, she reacts on a political level. When she is finally in Cuba, she goes back to the place of her aggression: “She lost her second child in this place. […] What she fears most is this: that her rape, her baby’s death were absorbed quietly by the earth” (227). Through the metaphor “absorbed quietly by the earth”, the reader finds out that Lourdes is afraid that her suffering is forgotten and meaningless. It leads the reader to believe that Lourdes has engaged in politics to give a sense to her aggression. Indeed, she has become an anti-communist: “[s]he is convinced that she can fight Communism from behind her bakery counter” (García, 136). After all, it is because of the introduction of a communist government that Lourdes’ aggression occurred. It confirms that, as Kali Tal suggests, “the memories of traumatic events often involve cultural-political movements” (Tal 1996 cited in Edwards 2008: 133). Tal further argues that the “traumatic experience becomes a weapon in another battle, the struggle for political power” (Tal 1996 cited in Edwards 2008: 133). It is interesting to note the word field of war in both Tal’s second statement (“weapon”, “battle”, “power”) and Lourdes’ conviction towards Communism (“fight”). It means that Lourdes’ political fight can be interpreted as a revenge on her past: she lost a battle but not the war.

Therefore, through the narrative structure that helps making links between the events of the past, the expression of Lourdes’ unconscious feelings through her body, and her reaction after the traumatic event, the reader finds out Lourdes’ version of history. Her recollection of traumatic events enables the reader to understand the different positions that follow episodes of history such as the introduction of a revolutionary government in Cuba. Justin D. Edwards claims that “the postcolonial writer who captures memories often does so as a way of bearing witness to the traumatic histories of the past” (138). Indeed, García, by recalling not only individual memories –for instance through Lourdes’ story– but also a collective memory –through the history of black people– gives a voice to the people who suffered and thus the historical truth is revealed.

Bibliography

Primary Text:

García, Cristina. Dreaming in Cuban. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.

Secondary Text:

Edwards, Justin D. “Chapter Twelve: Memory.” Postcolonial Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Works Cited:

Herman, Judith. Trauma and Recovery. New York: Basic Books, 1992.

Tal, Kali. Worlds of Hurt: Reading the Literatures of Trauma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.