United States of Banana

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United States of Banana is a 2011 postcolonial dramatic fiction book by the Puerto Rican poet Giannina Braschi. It is a mixed-genre work which blends experimental theater, prose poetry, and essay with a manifesto on democracy and American power in a post–September 11 world. The book narrates the author's violent displacement from her home in the Battery Park neighborhood in New York City.[1]

Summary

Part One: Ground Zero

Part One, entitled "Ground Zero," offers a poetic critique of 21st century capitalism and corporate censorship[2] with its depictions of New York City before and during the September 11 attacks.[3] Part One unfolds through a collection of metafiction, short stories, and essays on American culture since the collapse of the World Trade Center.[4]

Part Two: United States of Banana

In Part Two, called "United States of Banana", the structure radically changes from a collection of fragmented works into an experimental theater work consisting of dramatic and philosophical dialogues. Historical literary characters Hamlet and Zarathustra join the author's alter-ego, Giannina, on a quest to liberate the Puerto Rican prisoner Segismundo from the dungeon of the Statue of Liberty where he has been held by his father, the King of the United States of Banana, more than 100 years prior for the crime of having been born.[5] 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.[6]

The experimental play dramatizes the plight of Latino prisoners in the United States, Puerto Rico's position as an American territory, and Braschi's struggle for liberty.[7] By having the people of Puerto Rico vote on Segismundo's liberty, the work satirizes the three political options of Puerto Rico: statehood, nation, and colony.[8]

Film and theater productions

  • In 2011, 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.[9]
  • In 2011 and 2012, Braschi gave a series of dramatic readings from United States of Banana at major festivals, cultural centers, and literary conventions.
  • In 2015, Colombian film and theater director Juan Pablo Felix adapted United States of Banana for the stage and debuted the production at Schapiro Theater at Columbia University in New York City.[10][11]

References

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  5. ↑ Library Journal's Review of United States of Banana, October 1, 2011
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  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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