Impossible Returns, L?pez

Timely and salient. In addition to tracing the trajectory of narratives of return, this study puts into relief the idea that there is no singular process of return.--Andrea OReilly Herrera, author of Cuban Artists across the Diaspora: Setting the Tent against the House

Outstanding. Lopezs interpretation of the narratives of the emigres real or imagined returns to their homeland is insightful, sensitive, well documented, and informed by current debates about diasporas, exile, transnationalism, and identity.--Jorge Duany, author of Blurred Borders: Transnational Migration between the Hispanic Caribbean and the United States

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.