THE ROUTEs OF GLOBAL NOSTALGIA IN CRISTINA GARCIA'S DREAMING IN CUBAN 101

 [that] more liberal policies may be permitted" (158). Since the aim of
 all art and imagination is focused towards the revolution, there can be
 no post-revolutionary moment. There is no "later, after the revolution,"
 because the revolution is always present. Indeed, if the revolution halts
 time, then there can be no past to make sense of either. The Revolu-
 tion infinitely present: "Within the revolution, everything; against the
 revolution, nothing" (235). If the role of the artist or writer is to make
 sense of the past, as Pilar suggests, then the artist has no role, no rel-
 evance, in Communist Cuba.5 By rejecting the role of art as both criti-
 cism and record, Cuba becomes a space of stagnancy. According to
 Pilar, "Art... is the ultimate revolution" and if art cannot exist within
 Castro's revolution, then Cuba will not survive (235). It only follows
 then that the major characters who remain in Cuba die: Celia, Felicia,
 and Javier. The characters who survive, Rufino, Pilar, Lourdes, and
 Ivanito, are exiles in the United States.'
 In Dreaming in Cuban, Cuba is ultimately a dead space due to the
island's relationship to history, time, and globalization via the Revolu-
tion. Art, defined as critique and memory, is unable to exist in this
space. More importantly, art as a commodity will find no market in
Communist Cuba. Although the novel exhibits an anxiety regarding
commodities, it is evident that the value of art lies in its mass market-
ing. Ivanito's dreams of being a radio personality reinforce the impor-
tance of access to an audience via the market. Felicia's son, Ivanito,
walks along the beach with his radio,

 until I pick up radio stations in Key West. I'm learning more English
 this way but it's a lot different from Abuelo Jorge's grammar books. If


 I The novel's depiction of Cuba as a barren space for the development of art
should be contrasted with Cuba's actual role in promoting literary production
throughout the Americas, specifically through the Casa de las Americas, which
awards one of the most prestigious literary prizes in Caribbean and Latin America.
 13 Luz and Milagro could be claimed as exceptions because they presumably
continue to live in Cuba after Ivanito escapes on the Marielito boatload. Since the
novel never fully develops these characters, their survival in Cuba does not
symbolically outweigh the deaths of the more major characters, especially Celia
and Felicia. Nevertheless, if one were to consider them further, it is possible that
Luz and Milagro become irrelevant within the narrative's symbolic logic because of
their opacity. By refusing to speak with Pilar, the sisters remain inaccessible. Also,
they do not display the same fascination with American culture as Ivanito, and
therefore cannot assimilate into U.S. culture or the market. Ultimately and according
to the logic of the text, their fate is a dubious one if they remain in Cuba.