BETWEEN DREAMS AND REALITY: TRACES OF SPATIAL MEMORY IN SANDRA CISNEROS’S THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET


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Authors

  • Irem Sevin KORKMAZ I am doing my master's degree in the English Language and Literature Department of the Faculty of Letters at the Institute of Social Sciences. https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5041-7453

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15737380

Keywords:

spatial memory, narrative techniques, symbols, inner world, ties of belonging

Abstract

This article explores textual spaces of dream and reality as spatial memories in Sandra Cisneros’s semi-autobiographical work, The House on Mango Street, in detail. Through the memories and symbols that character’s associate with the space, Cisneros allows each character to question their individual and social support ties. A space is prominent not only as a space to inhabit, but also as a vital unique device for exploring the emotional and psychological growth of the characters. Space as literary motivation in the luxury story, construction of identity and narrative techniques and symbols in that context. The permeability defined between the duality of dreams and reality allows Cisneros to take her readers along an incredible series into the inner spaces, the memoirs, of her characters. The subtle way this narrative balances the different domains allows the reader to see it with a critical eye. Cisneros is a writer whose stories are not only limited by the plot as a narrative unit, but its space between characters and humans is in a sense more important — that is why the article examines close-ups of Cisneros's characters, the revealed erosion of layers and rehearsal of meanings based on spatial elements, and the way that literature has to accommodate itself on spatial units. Also, it offers a rich viewpoint on the inner worlds of the characters belonging to the reader and the delicate structure of their search for identity.

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Published

2025-06-25

How to Cite

KORKMAZ, I. S. (2025). BETWEEN DREAMS AND REALITY: TRACES OF SPATIAL MEMORY IN SANDRA CISNEROS’S THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET. NEW ERA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY SOCIAL RESEARCHES, 10(29), 89–101. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15737380