Explorations of Personal and Communal Identity through Dreamscape in U.S. Latinx Comic Books and Graphic Novels

Many U.S. Latinx comic books and graphic novels, of various genres and artistic styles, all use a specific narrative sequence that I call dreamscape to grapple with a variety of complexities of personal and cultural identity. The infinite nuances of identity make it tremendously difficult to create a singular, expansive representation of personhood; therefore, various texts may depict different iterations of personal and communal identity that nonetheless fall under an umbrella label like U.S. Latinx. Dreamscape, a type of sequence that combines specific textual and visual elements, is used by a variety of authors to explore the limits of personal self-actualization and communal identity in a space that ruptures the established reality of the comic book or graphic novel. This rupturing of reality allows authors to invoke spirituality, history, and the depths of the human psyche to interrogate identity construction. My analysis identifies four key characteristics of dreamscape: visual differentiation; the presence of cultural icons; an interaction between the main character and a spiritual figure that reveals something about their mental state; and interactions within the dreamscape that clarify or complicate the main character's relationship to both their personal and communal identity. In five texts, I will examine how dreamscape is used to build nuanced, layered depictions of Mexican-American identity and individual personhood.