Remembering Cuba's Past / Discovering Its Future: Giving Voice to Memory in Uva de Aragón's The Memory of Silence

Jeffrey C Barnett Jeffrey C Barnett

doi:10.13169/intejcubastud.8.1.0097

Abstract

As a historical novel, Uva de Aragón's The Memory of Silence explores the divergences and commonalities in the lives of twin sisters separated at the outset of the Cuban Revolution and as such complicates and enriches our understanding of Cuba's future. As the reader re-lives momentous events since the Revolution, one comes to the realisation that the true value of the work lies in its balance of perspective. It would be inaccurate to say that the novel offers an objective view of modern-day Cubans (both those in exile and on the island). Instead, it offers two intentionally subjective views that culminate in a synthesis of understanding: namely, that geo-cultural bonds are greater than geo-political differences. In the end, The Memory of Silence is a book of hope, but a hope that can only be realised once memory has been un-silenced.

Highlights

As a historical novel, Uva de Aragón’s The Memory of Silence explores the divergences and commonalities in the lives of twin sisters separated at the outset of the Cuban Revolution and as such complicates and enriches our understanding of Cuba’s future
As José Arcadio reads about his own act of reading the family’s memoirs, or rather as he becomes aware of his own act of remembering, the novel reaches an insurmountable obstacle of infinity
There are a number of authors among the American exile diaspora who focus on an imagined community and the memory of, and through, family

Summary

Introduction

Uva de Aragón’s The Memory of Silence explores the divergences and commonalities in the lives of twin sisters separated at the outset of the Cuban Revolution and as such complicates and enriches our understanding of Cuba’s future. More than merely recovering memory, literature in these particular instances serves to uncover silence and to re-endow the character(s) with a voice.

Results

Conclusion