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The Different Manifestations of Orality in Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban

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The Dualism in Luz Villaverde’s View of Her Family in Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban

Orality is a central term in postcolonial literature. Many critics have studied it and one of them is Justin D. Edwards. He wrote a book called Postcolonial Literature in which, among other subjects, he deals with orality. One of the main definition he gives in his book is that “an oral tradition is […] defined by the transmission of cultural material by word of mouth rather than through written documents” (Edwards, 40). In Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban, orality is a recurrent theme. Throughout the whole novel, there are different elements that bear witness to the presence of orality. Among them, Spanish words in an English text, the themes of history and personal history, and the structure of the novel, attest the presence of orality in the novel.

García’s novel is written in English yet, sometimes, Spanish words appear in the text. In his study, Justin D. Edwards explains that this is a characteristic of orality: “the first-person narrator, Hera, uses non-English words such as ′Kamakama′, ′Pakeha′ and ′hoha′” (Edwards, 49). Edwards talks about this characteristic explaining that the main character also uses words that are linked to his background. In García’s novel the characters expressing themselves use Spanish words. They mix them with English, however there are two different ways to use Spanish words in this novel. Some of those words are written in the same font as the English words. When Pilar talks about her grandmother, she hardly ever uses the words “grandmother” or “grandma”. She almost always uses the Spanish word “Abuela”: “I imagine Abuela Celia’s surprise as I sneak up behind her” (García, 26). This word, as the other Spanish words that are not graphically separated from the English text, is part of someone’s name. Here, it completes Celia’s name. Other Spanish words are however written in italic. One of them is the term “santería” which is a religion practiced in Cuba. Felicia believed in “santería”: “At night, Felicia attended our ceremonies” (García, 186). The use of Spanish words, whether they are written in italic or not, emphasis the Cuban culture of the characters.

The culture of the characters is also expressed through history. As Edwards point out in his study, “the history and culture of the place and the people are kept alive” (Edwards, 48) through orality. That is precisely what Pilar’s father is trying to do when he “told [her] stories about Cuba after Columbus came. He said that the Spaniards wiped out more Indians with smallpox than muskets” (García, 28). Pilar asks: “Why don’t we read about this in history books?” (García, 28). Pilar’s question shows that she did not learn about the Spaniards in history books, by reading. But she listened to her father who told her this story. In this extract, orality keeps history alive because oral words transmit knowledge, which was not written down, to someone. Pilar wants people to also remember the history that is not written in books: “If it were up to me, I’d record other things” (García, 28). “Record” has a double meaning that is essential in this context. The first meaning is linked to the idea of preserving information (Oxford English Dictionary). The second meaning is linked to the recording function of electronic devices (Oxford English Dictionary). In this meaning, there is the idea of recording information that was spread by oral transmissions. Oral transmission is more efficient in keeping history alive because it keeps many histories alive, not only the one that can be read in books.

The history that must be recorded is also the personal one. Celia used to talk to Pilar and this reminded her of her Cuban origins. But now that Pilar does not talk as much as before with her Abuela Celia, “Every day Cuba fades a little more inside [her], [and her] grandmother fades a little more inside [her]. And there’s only [her] imagination where [their] history should be” (García, 138). The absence of oral communication between Celia and Pilar makes their personal history disappear. The fact that Pilar refers to Celia as her “grandmother” is significant in this context. It emphasises even more that her Cuban culture is disappearing. As orality’s presence keeps history and culture alive, its absence makes them fade away.

The difficulty occurs when one has to write down stories that are drawn from oral cultures. “The circular communication of the oral process that occurs between teller and listener(s) is, when written down, transformed into a linear narrative structure” (Edwards, 43). Edwards explains that oral communication is not organised in the same way as written communication. Therefore, it is difficult to bring out orality in written pieces. However, García’s novel has a particular structure that demonstrate the presence of orality. The plot is not written in a linear way. Back and forth in time are part of this non-linear writing that recall an oral transmission. The chapters are not chronologically ordered and the addition of Celia’s letters in the middle shows a particular organisation of time. In this perspective, it is a “literature that mixes oral and written forms of communication” (Edwards, 47).  Edwards also points out another characteristic of orality: “Oral cultures […] do not order thoughts in this [linear] ways because their natives and cultural belief systems rely on […] the ′stitching together′ stories” (Edwards, 46). This idea of “′stitching together′ stories” is interesting in the context of Dreaming in Cuban. In this novel, there are different narrative voices. In every chapter, there are various characters expressing themselves to make the plot move forward. They tell stories which differ from the ones that the previous character told. The novel is constructed as stories stitched together and this points out the orality in García’s style of writing.

         Dreaming in Cuban is a postcolonial novel in many ways. Therefore, in the whole novel, there are different manifestations of orality, which is a central theme in postcolonial literature. The presence of Spanish words in an English text is one of the manifestation of orality in the novel. Those words point out the Cuban culture in the novel. The preservation of history is another central theme linked to orality. The novel points out how history is preserved differently when recorded in an oral or in a written way. It also points out how the absence of orality makes history disappear. Finally, the structure of Dreaming in Cuban is in itself a manifestation of the oral culture.

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The Dualism in Luz Villaverde’s View of Her Family in Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban

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The Dualism in Luz Villaverde’s View of Her Family in Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban

In Cristina Gracía’s novel Dreaming in Cuban, the theme of family relationships has an important place. This theme is treated in different ways according to which character the narration is focusing on. This essay focuses on the passage that begins on page 120 from “After Mamá set him on fire |…|” and ends on page 121 till “|…|wants to hear”. It deals with Luz Villaverde’s point of view. She uses a language to describe her family that shows how her point of view is tainted with dualism. Dualism is a central term to understand Luz’s view of her family. In the Oxford English Dictionary, dualism is defined as “the doctrine that there are two independent principles, one good and the other evil”. According to this definition, there are two different sides in life: the good and the evil. This concept can be applied on Luz’s view of her family. Luz sees only the good in her father and the bad in her mother. Those views oppose themselves to each other and show the contrast from Luz’s point of view.

            Luz’s view of her family is separated in two parts: the good and the bad. Each part is linked to some family members. The language she uses when describing her family shows that her sister belongs to the good part. She uses a metaphor to describe the strong link she has with her sister: “We’re a double helix, tight and impervious” (120, García). The double helix is a scientific term that is used to describe the shape of the DNA (Oxford English Dictionary). Luz’s use of this expression has a double meaning. In fact, there is the aspect of DNA because her sister and her are twins. There is also the image of the DNA being two sides tight close together as Luz and Milagro are. They are “tight and impervious” because, like the DNA, they cannot be separated from each other. After that Luz says that their mother “can’t penetrate [them]” (120). This metaphor expresses the fact that the two sisters are so close to each other that nothing, not even their mother, can tear them apart. For Luz, Milagro is linked to the good part of her family. In the passage, there are no terms that describe Milagro being in any way a bad person. How Luz describes her sister shows the dualism in her view of her family.

            As with Milagro, Luz sees her father in a good way. The dualism can also be seen in the descriptions of her father. She considers him as the person who would save her and her sister from their mother: “I fantasized about how he’d come back to take Milagro and me away from Mamá and her coconuts” (120). She also “imagined riding on the backs of those cranes, flying to wherever he was” (120), a trope that shows how much she wants to be with him rather than with Felicia. She finds excuses for her father even if what he did was flawed: “It didn’t matter that we were too young to wear [the scarves], only that he thought we could” (120). Hugo is not close enough to them to know what they can wear or not, but, because of her positive view of her father, she does not notice this. She idealises her father because she does not know all the bad things he did to her mother. She has a biased point of view.

           The only thing that the twin sisters know is that their mother “set [their father] on fire” (120) and they resent her for this. This action is the point for Luz’s biased perception of her mother. Everything that their mother says to them are “pretty words” and “meaningless words that didn’t nourish us, that didn’t comfort us, that kept us prisoners in her alphabet world” (121). She uses the metaphor “prisoners” to express the sentiment of being stuck with her mother. This metaphor is also hyperbolic because Luz and her sister are not in a prison neither are they treated as prisoners. The sentiment of being prisoners emphasises the desire of wanting to fly “to wherever [her father] is” (120). The metaphor of the “alphabet world” emphasises the idea of “meaningless words” that her mother uses. She is stuck in a world that is made only of words that do not have a meaning for her. The word “alphabet” emphasises it because the alphabet only contains the letters and therefore the primary meaning of words. The letters alone do not have a broader meaning. When letters are put together to form a word, then this word may have multiple meanings. If one reads the word and understand it only for its primary meaning, then the broader meaning is lost. Luz does not understand her mother because Luz understands only this primary meaning of the words. Felicia is using figurative language that her daughter does not understand.

          The language Luz uses to describe her mother is so mean that she and her sister created a metaphor to name their mother: “not-Mamá” (121). This metaphor translates her resentment against her mother. Luz does not consider her mother as being a “mamá”. “Mother” is linked to the biological aspect which is giving birth whereas as “mamá” is linked to the emotional aspect. “Mamà” is the Spanish word for “mom” which is more affective. This emphasises the wickedness of the term “not-Mamá” because, by calling her mother this way, Luz shows Felicia that she is not acting like a mom should act.

         In the passage, through the oral language of Luz Villaverde, the dualism is present and opposes her family members. On the one hand, there is the good embodied by her sister and her father. On the other hand, there is the bad embodied by her mother. She has a fourteen-year-old point of view and hers shows dualism. It is also biased and does not represent the whole picture of the actual situation in her family. The reader knows that the father made mistakes as well as the mother because of the different characters’ point of views. But if the story was written in a unique point of view, the reader would not have this knowledge about the real situation. The dualism in Luz’s point of view is only noticeable because of the structure of the novel. 

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