The Return to the Homeland: Pilar’s Intercultural Hybridity in Dreaming in Cuban

Abstract

This work explores the acceptance of intercultural hybridity through the return to the homeland as a fundamental step towards the reconstruction of identity in Pilar, one of the protagonists of Dreaming in Cuban (1992) by Cristina García. From a postcolonial perspective, the diverse means through which Pilar attempts to return to Cuba after decades of involuntary exile are analyzed and discussed. Therefore, dreams, spirituality and the physical return to the geographic space of the homeland are approached as attempts to reconnect to the essence of her fragmented identity which, in Pilar’s case, was affected by the disruptive power of her family’s exile. Finally, it is concluded that these diverse means to reconnect to her roots highlight her intercultural hybridity as a completely liberating and empowering component of her identity.

Keywords

• hibridez intercultural
• identidad
• sueños
• espiritualidad