A Review of the Impossible Return: Post-Migratory Narratives and the Reconstruction of Identity in Contemporary Latin American Literature

Return migration, traditionally conceived as the closure of the migratory cycle, is represented in contemporary Latin American literature as a complex and unstable process marked by estrangement, nostalgia, and fractured identity. This article analyzes the notion of the “impossible return” through a comparative reading of works by Valeria Luiselli, Cristina Rivera Garza, Edwidge Danticat, and Selva Almada. Drawing on postcolonial theory, diaspora studies, and transnational approaches, the study demonstrates that return does not allow for a harmonious recovery of the subject’s former identity, but rather produces a conflictive superposition of memories, cultural practices, and divergent temporalities. The article argues that post-migratory literature redefines “home” as a mobile, discontinuous, and permanently negotiated space. Through close textual analysis, this study reveals how return becomes not an act of restoration, but one of crisis and revelation, exposing the irreversible transformations produced by displacement. Ultimately, the article positions the “impossible return” as a key narrative device for understanding identity reconstruction in transnational Latin American writing.