Narrating to Remember: Memory, Otherness, and Epistolary Communication in Dreaming in Cuban

Abstract

Introduction: Studies on the writing of the self, memory, and narrative forms of subjectivity occupy a central place in contemporary literary reflection, especially when examining texts marked by exile, historical rupture, and identity reconstruction. Within this framework, this paper analyzes the relationship between memory, epistolary expression, and otherness, aiming to demonstrate that the letter functions not only as a compositional resource but also as a device for the figuration of the self, historical mediation, and the production of meaning. Materials and methods: From a hermeneutic-interpretive approach, drawing on the theoretical contributions of Paul Ricoeur, Maurice Halbwachs, Friedrich Nietzsche, Marc Augé, and Gilles Deleuze, this paper examines how a fragmentary memory is articulated, destabilizing any notion of complete recollection and transforming the narrative experience into a process of ongoing reconstruction. Results: The analysis of Cristina García's novel Soñar en cubano reveals that epistolary communication, by always addressing an absent other, transforms memory into a relational and discursive practice where identity, history, and affectivity intertwine. Likewise, the fragmentation of voices, times, and perspectives reveals that memory does not restore an intact origin, but rather configures partial versions of lived experience, sustained by a constant tension between remembering and forgetting. Discussion: The findings confirm that epistolary writing embodies a privileged form of memory because it does not restore a complete past, but rather organizes its fragments. By always addressing an absent other, the letter transforms memory into an experience of searching, distancing, and reconstructing identity. Conclusions: It is concluded that the novel allows us to understand that all writing of memory constitutes a negotiation with absence and that all narrative identity is produced within the unstable framework of a divided subjectivity.