Impossible Returns

While the stories and resettlement patterns of Cubans who have left their home island have been widely documented, 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 those who left Cuba as children or adolescents. Including memoirs, semi-autobiographical fiction, and visual arts, many of these accounts feature a physical arrival on the island while others depict a metaphorical or vicarious experience by means of fictional characters or childhood reminiscences. As two-way migration increases in the post-Cold War period, many of these narratives put to the test the boundaries of national identity.

Through a critical reading of works by Cuban American artists and writers like Maria Brito, Ruth Behar, Carlos Eire, Cristina Garcia, Ana Mendieta, Gustavo Perez Firmat, Ernesto Pujol, Achy Obejas, and Ana Menendez, Lopez highlights the affective ties as well as the tensions underlying the relationship between returning subjects and their native country. Impossible Returns also looks at how Cubans still living on the island depict returning emigres in their own narratives, addressing works by Jesus Diaz, Humberto Solas, Carlos Acosta, Nancy Alonso, Leonardo Padura, and others. Blurring the lines between disciplines and geographic borders, this book underscores the centrality of Cuba for its diaspora and bears implications for other countries with widespread populations in exile.