Abstract
This paper examines "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina Garcia, a widely acclaimed novel set against the backdrop of Fidel Castro's Cuba, and reflects on the sociopolitical effects of Cuba turning communist under the leadership of Fidel Castro. It explains how the characters of the story experience various diseases, real or perceived, and reflect the trauma that Cuba was going through at that time.

Outline:
Introduction
Poetics of Disease
Poetics of Rehabilitation
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Female characters in the novel seem to be yearning for transparency perceived as no materiality, setting them free from the biological and geographical barriers. Celia's lover leaves for Spain and unable to cope with the separation Celia becomes so sick that she remains bedridden for eight months and her body atrophies. Despite all the medical tests doctors could not find any medical cause of her illness. Finally Sinatra is consulted who attributes Cilia's problems to a "wet landscape in palm" linking her illness to the environment. Cuba being an island Celia perceives herself as a captive especially when she cant be with her lover who is free to roam around."

Tags:Fidel, Castro, sociopolitical, turmoil, disease, illness, rehabilitation

Abstract
The immigrant experience is addressed in two novels, No-No Boy by John Okada and Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia, and in each case the relationship between the immigrant and his or her homeland as well as the new country to which the immigrant has come. The degree of assimilation is partly related to issues of generation, with first-generation immigrants having more difficultly than younger ones

From the Paper
"The immigrant experience is addressed in two novels, No-No Boy by John Okada and Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia, and in each case the relationship between the immigrant and his or her homeland as well as the new country to which the immigrant has come. The degree of assimilation is partly related to issues of generation, with first-generation immigrants having more difficultly than younger ones.
The novel No-No Boy by John Okada recounts aspects of the immigrant experience in America though the experience of its main character, and the author shows an understanding of the historical forces that helped shape that character in his place and time. The main character is beset both by a sense of loss of the parent culture and tensions within the adopted culture to which he has become acculturated. Okada evokes issues of ..."

Abstract
This paper compares three feminist Hispanic literary works: "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisnero, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent" by Julia Alvarez, and "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina Garcia. The paper investigates how the issues of gender, race, ethnicity, belief, education, family and culture affect identity found in these literary works.

From the Paper
"During the last few decades, a new genre has emerged, the female Hispanic writer. These women are enriching the American literature landscape with their lyrical stories and ethnicity. They are telling stories of young girls, mothers, grandmothers, and friends, who have been transplanted from a culture a world away into the American dream. They are telling their own stories. Telling those who read their tales what it's really like to grow up with little or no knowledge of the language and customs, trying desperate to adapt and meld into American life, weaving old ways and new into their own identity."

Tags:race, ethnicity, belief, education, family, culture, affect, identity

Abstract
In this article, the writer discusses that mixed cultures and mixed ancestries are both a large part of the plot and the theme of 'Monkey Hunting' by Cristina Garcia. The writer maintains that the characters of course bear the literary responsibility as to the impact of cross-cultural and mixed ancestries; but the setting, the ironies and the various narratives by various characters carry the messages that the author delivers with both eloquence and coarseness. The writer discusses that the book deals with many histories and nationalities, bondage and brutality, but the web that Garcia weaves throughout the novel is more about the intertwining of ethnic and ancestral cultures than anything else. The writer concludes that the point of the book is that the world is a smaller and smaller place and cultures are blending in a giant melting pot that has been created on a global scale.

From the Paper
"On many occasions in this book Cristina Garcia brings the reader into the cultural stew that has resulted from Chen Pan's arrival in Cuba and the offspring he is responsible for. Mixed cultures result in clashes in what to eat and how to love. On pages 203-204 for example, readers are treated to the fact that Vietnamese people love to use fish sauce. Anyone who has visited a Vietnamese restaurant knows that you won't find ketchup or mustard on the table, but there will be fish sauce. And here is Chen Pan's great-great grandson, Domingo Chen, of Cuban, African, and Asian extraction, in Saigon in 1970 with Tham Thanh Lan, a Vietnamese woman."

Tags:ethnicity, ancestry, belonging, cultural

Abstract
In this article, the writer introduces, discusses and analyzes the book "Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano/a Literature" by Cristina Garcia. Specifically, the writer provides a report on the book, including the major themes and ideas presented. The writer maintains that 'Bordering Fires' is a compilation of essays and writings about the Hispanic experience on both sides of the U.S./Mexican border, which attempt to define the unique cultural identity these people share. The writer concludes that written by some of the most well known and respected Chicano/a voices, the book creates a cultural heritage for anyone who reads it.

From the Paper
"Another man writes of his obvious charms to his female customers at the gift counter in a department store, and how he works the system and gets caught. There is something innocent about all these stories, even though the characters are not all innocent or even in some cases likable. However, just like the theme of the book, they show the melting pot that forms Chicano/a culture, and how so many different people and personalities make up these people. It also shows the view they have of one another, which is not always positive, and indicates again that all these writers are writing about people who are searching for their culture, their voice, and their purpose in a life that pulls them in two directions at once.
"Finally, the New Departures section is the hope of the culture in the future. These beautiful works, which read more like fairy tales or myths, indicate the hope the authors have for the future of Chicano/a culture and how it will change and grow, just as it always has done. One story sums up the theme of this book and this section quite well."

Tags:Chicano, Hispanic, heritage, culture

Abstract
Discusses the magic realism literary style of Cristina Garcia's novel DREAMING IN CUBA. Traces concept of magic realist to Cuba and Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. Critical review of characters, and their interaction in Cuba and New York. Themes of family, politics, love, dreams, visions, memory. Author's attitude toward magic realism.

From the Paper
"It is altogether fitting that Cristina Garcia should plunge us into a world defined by the always shifting definitions of the world of magical realism, for Garcia's books are essentially Cuban, and the concept of magical realism itself was born in Cuba. Although this style of writing is perhaps best known through the work of Argentine writers like Jorge Luis Borges, the term itself and the literary style that this sometimes elusive phrase refers to were the children of Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. Carpentier was seeking for a literary style (and concept) broad enough to accommodate both the events of everyday life as he saw it unfolding before him in the years after World War II in Cuba and the fabulous nature of Latin American geography and history (Zamora and Faris, 1995, p. 36).


Carpentier's ideas about the kind of writing that could span such..."

Abstract
This three-page undergraduate paper discusses the significance of the letters woven throughout Cristina Garcia's novel Dreaming in Cuban in regard to the novel's central themes.

Abstract
This paper examines the tensions between Lourdes and Pilar, the mother and daughter in "Dreaming in Cuban". The paper analyzes how both characters relate to Cuba as individuals and then identifies the personal qualities that enable Lourdes to assimilate so quickly when she moves to Brooklyn.

Outline:
The Tensions Within and Between Each
How They Relate to Cuba as Individuals
The Personal Qualities that Enable Lourdes to Assimilate so Quickly When She Moves to Brooklyn

From the Paper
"In America, she is very strong in her beliefs about capitalism and how people should live, and even the values others should have, especially those around her. This comes into conflict with her daughter Pilar, who has no memory of Cuba, yet as an individual clearly feels the need to rebel and find her own way in the world, against the iron will of her mother. She finds her mother to be very invasive, and imposing of values and world view. To Pilar, the Cuba she has never seen is a dream that is pure and beautiful, and she hopes to see it one day. The implication of the story is that the idyllic memory of her homeland has been robbed very violently and traumatically from Lourdes, as her childhood, and her innocence, was taken away by political events in Cuba such as the revolution that sent her family into exile and brought them to America."

Tags:Lourdes, Pilar, Castro

Abstract
This paper examines the influence of race, gender and ethnicity on personality development through a review of three novels, "House of Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros, "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina Garcia and "How Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent" by Julia Alvarez. It explores the problems that immigrant families encounter when they move to the United States as portrayed in these stories.

From the Paper
"Race, ethnicity, immigration and their impact on one's personality are serious subjects which need to be studied carefully in order to understand why they cast such profound influence on human beings and their sense of self. In the three books namely, "House of Mango Street", "Dreaming in Cuban" and "How Garcia girls lost their accent", the authors give us unique insights into the subjects of race, discrimination and identity crisis and the role they play in the evolution of one's personality and character. The most important and by far the wisest approach towards these subjects was adopted by Sandra Cisneros, the writer of House on Mango Street. This is because while the other two writers deal with causes of immigration and the disturbing aspects of immigration, Cisneros focuses mainly on the internal conflict, dream and hopes of those who move from poor countries to the land of opportunity. It is very important to understand that all three have given a fictional touch to their own life stories since they all migrated to the United States with their families when conditions in their native countries appeared unfavorable."

Tags:immigrant, family, Cisneros, Alvarez, Berrios, Garcia, crisis, character, discrimination, psychepoor, opportunity, culture

Abstract
This paper is about the cultural and political dynamics of Cuban-American identity. It discusses the difference between exile status and ethnic Cuban identity, manifested in the different self-conceptions of the several waves of Cuban exiles since the 1959 revolution. The paper particularly emphasizes the works of two Cuban-American artists, Cristina Garcia and Ana Mendieta, whose works demonstrate the tensions in the Cuban community between nostalgia and self-examination.