Arts and Literature of Cuba

View over Manaca Iznaga, a large sugar plantation near Trinidad. During the Spanish colonial era, slave labor was an important part of Cuba’s agricultural economy.

interview led to another, and then another, and then another still. Gradually, Barnet teased out Montejo’s life story. In 1966 Barnet published Biografría de un cimarrón ( Biography of a Runaway Slave ). It was a pioneering work in a literary genre that would be dubbed testimonio . Now popular throughout Latin America, testimonio , or testimonial narrative, seeks to tell the stories of voiceless or marginalized members of society. As Barnet did with Esteban Montejo, the author of a testi- monial narrative typically starts by carefully gathering the

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Arts and Literature of Cuba