Abstract
Studies of Cuban internationalism in Angola have been limited to historiography of the engagement. This article examines the interaction between individual narratives and historico-political mythology by looking at testimonios and fiction that deal with the conflict. Two 'top down' testimonios are scrutinised for the different ways they induct the accounts of individuals into the master narrative of internationalism in Angola. The assumption that such narratives are necessarily less 'authentic' than the classic 'subaltern' testimonio is also questioned. It is argued that as the textual correlate of an extraordinary historical phenomenon in which hundreds of thousands opted to risk their lives in Angola, the 'state sponsored' testimonios are significant as a form of 'social action' - a quality prized by the champions of 'subaltern' testimonio. The testimonios are contrasted with Alejandro Alvarez Bernal's 'postmodern' novel Canon de retrocarga, which, by re-emphasising the coercive power relation involved in the production of testimonio about the Angolan war, also reaffirms the political role of ludic fiction.
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