''United States of Banana'' (2011) is a postmodern allegorical novel by the Puerto Rican author

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

. It is a

cross-genre A hybrid genre is a literary genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. Works in hybrid genres are often referred to as cross-genre, multi-genre, mixed genre, or fusion genre. Hybrid genres are a longstanding element ...

work that blends

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...

prose poetry Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form, while preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery, parataxis, and emotional effects. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks assoc ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

, and

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...

with a manifesto on

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

and American life in a post- 9/11 world. The book dramatizes the global war on terror and narrates the author's displacement after the attacks from her home in the

Battery Park The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...

neighborhood in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The work addresses Latin American immigration to the United States, Puerto Rico's colonial status, and "power imbalances within the Americas."

Summary

Part One: Ground Zero

Part One, titled as "Ground Zero", critiques 21st-century

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

and

corporate censorship Corporate censorship is censorship by corporations. It is when a spokesperson, employer, or business associate sanctions a speaker's speech by threat of monetary loss, employment loss, or loss of access to the marketplace. It is present in many ...

with its depictions of New York City before and during the September 11 attacks. Part One unfolds through a collection of metafiction, short stories, and philosophical essays on American culture since the attacks on the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

. Using avant-garde techniques, Braschi links post-9/11 fears of terrorism with the "daily suffering that stems from a changing, debt-ridden economy to offer a scathing critique of neoliberal economic and social reforms."

Part Two: United States of Banana

In Part Two, called "United States of Banana", the structure changes from political manifesto and philosophical fiction into an

experimental theater Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...

play about economic terrorism, U.S. colonialism, liberty, and love.Cruz-Malavé, Arnaldo Manuel. "Under the Skirt of Liberty: Giannina Braschi Rewrites Empire." American Quarterly 66.3 (2014): 801-818.

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and

Zarathustra Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label=Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. He is s ...

(Zoroaster) join the author's

alter-ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

, Giannina, on a quest to liberate the Puerto Rican prisoner Segismundo (named after the protagonist of

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (, ; ; 17 January 160025 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque ...

's ''La vida es sueño'') from the dungeon of the Statue of Liberty, where he has been held by his father, the king of the United States of Banana, for more than 100 years, for the crime of having been born. When the King remarries, he frees his son, and for the sake of reconciliation, makes Puerto Rico the fifty-first state and grants American passports to all Latin American citizens. The play dramatizes the plight of prisoners in the United States, Puerto Rico's position as an American territory, and Braschi's struggle for liberty. By having the people of Puerto Rico vote on Segismundo's liberty, the work satirizes the three political options of Puerto Rico: statehood,

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

, or

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

. The prison scenes feature Middle Eastern prisoners of war, including those classified as terrorists, who are detained indefinitely. According to Ronald Mendoza-de Jesús, "The plot of United States of Banana unfolds in the following way: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, and a character named Giannina decide to cross the Hudson River to go to Liberty Island, penetrate the Statue of Liberty, and free Segismundo, subsequently freeing Puerto Rico from its colonial captivity. This act of defiance produces a response from Gertrude—Hamlet’s mother—who concocts a plan to marry Basilio, free Segismundo, and bring him into the same family as Hamlet as the only possible way to save the ancien régime of the imperial United States of Banana from collapsing. As part of her plan, Gertrude convinces Basilio that Puerto Rico should be granted admission into the United States of Banana, that all illegal immigrants should be granted citizenship, and that the borders of the United States of Banana should be opened. Her efforts to mitigate the revolution by granting concessions to Giannina and the other insurgents fail. Giannina and her comrades declare unilaterally the independence of Puerto Rico after realizing that the changes in the United States of Banana’s policies toward Puerto Rico and Latin America were an attempt to perpetuate a sort of imperial Pax Banana under the joint leadership of Basilio and Gertrude. War erupts between Puerto Rico, Cuba (which has claims to Puerto Rico and seeks to create its own Caribbean empire), and the United States of Banana. Giannina and her comrades can only rely on coconuts and philosophical conversation to fight the soldiers of the empire. But the timely intervention of China—the USB creditor—secures the independence of Puerto Rico and brings Braschi’s geopolitical comedy to a close."

Adaptations

*American photographer Michael Somoroff directed and produced a series of short art films of the author's oral interpretation of the book; these films debuted at Cervantes Institute in New York on December 1, 2012. *In 2015, Colombian film and theater director Juan Pablo Felix adapted ''United States of Banana'' for the stage as a play of the same name. This production premiered at Schapiro Theater at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York City with soundtrack and music scored by Suzana Peric. * In 2017, the novel was adapted into a graphic novel by Swedish cartoonist Joakim Lindengren.

*Beck, Evelyn. Review of ''United States of Banana''. '' Library Journal''. (2011) * Clarkson, Shaun. “Torching the Symbols of Liberty in ''United States of Banana''.” ''Creative Sanctions: Imaginative Limits and the Post-9/11 Novel''. Purdue University, 2017. * Cruz-Malavé, Arnaldo Manuel. "Under the Skirt of Liberty: Giannina Braschi Rewrites Empire." American Quarterly 66.3. (2014) * Daniele, Daniela. “Gamifying World Literature: Giannina Braschi’s ''United States of Banana'' (The Cartoon Art of September 11th).” ''Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi''. University of Pittsburgh Press. (2020) * Daniele, Daniela. “Review of ''United States of Banana'': Apocalypse and Grand-Guignol” '' Evergreen Review''. No. 128-129. (Spring 2012) * Felix, Juan Pablo. “''United States of Banana'': A

Postcolonial Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...

Dramatic Fiction Columbia University Academic Commons. (2015) * Gonzalez, Madelena. “The Uncommon Wealth of Art: Poetic Progress as Resistance to the Commodification of Culture in ''United States of Banana.” Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi''. University of Pittsburgh Press. (2020) * Gonzalez, Madelena. "''United States of Banana'' (2011), '' Elizabeth Costello'' (2003) and ''Fury'' (2001): Portrait of the Writer as the ‘Bad Subject’ of Globalisation." ''Études britanniques contemporaines''. (2014) * Lara-Bonilla, Inmaculada. Review of ''Estados Unidos Banana''. ''

Chasqui The ''chasquis'' (also ) were the messengers of the Inca empire. Agile, highly trained and physically fit, they were in charge of carrying the , messages and gifts, up to 240 km per day through the relay system. ''Chasquis'' were not just messe ...

: Reviews''. (December 2018) * Loingsigh, Aedin Ni. “Rewriting and Original Writing: Culture Clashes, Trauma and Emerging Discourses in Giannina Braschi's ''United States of Banana.''” ''Rewriting in the 20th-21st Centuries: Aesthetic Choice or Political Act?'' Epinoux, Estelle and Nathatlie Martinière, eds. Paris: M. Houdiard. (2015) * Lowry, Elizabeth. "The Human Barnyard: Rhetoric, Identification, and Symbolic Representation in Giannina Braschi’s ''United States of Banana''." ''Representing 9/11: Trauma, Ideology, and Nationalism in Literature, Film, and Television''. Petrovic, Paul, ed. Rowman & Littlefield. (2015) * Mendoza-de Jesús, Ronald. “Free-dom: United States of Banana and the Limits of

Sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

” (on Jacques Derrida and Giannina Braschi). ''Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi''. University of Pittsburgh Press. (2020) * Ramos, Francisco José. “The Holy Trinity: Money, Power, and Success in ''United States of Banana''.” ''Poets,

Philosophers A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, Lovers.'' University of Pittsburgh Press. (2020) * Riofrio, John. "Falling for debt: Giannina Braschi, the Latinx Avant-garde, and

Financial Terrorism The term economic terrorism or financial terrorism is strictly defined to indicate an attempt at economic destabilization by a group. Economic terrorism is defined in the following terms: Impact on supply chains Financial terrorism (also kno ...

in the ''United States of Banana''." ''

Latino Studies Latino studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Latin American ancestry in the United States. Closely related to other ethnic studies disciplines such as African-American studies, Asian American studies, and ...

'' 18.1. (2020) * Romero-Cesareo, Yvette and Lisa Paravisini-Gebert, eds. “New Book: Giannina Braschi’s ''United States of Banana''.” ''Repeating Islands''. (December 12, 2011) * Smith, Amanda M. and Sheeran, Amy. Introduction. “''United States of Banana'', A Graphic Novel.” Joakim Lindengren and Giannina Braschi.” The Ohio State University Press. (2021) * Waldron, John V. Review of ''Estados Unidos de Banana''. Trad. Manuel Broncano. ''Feministas Unidas''. (2018)

References

External links

Giannina Braschi

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is a literary festival in the United States organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 1995 the First Lady of Texas Laura Bush (a former ...

(2012),

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...