Book Review on Tales of the Post-Plantation: Unlikely Protagonists of Modern Philippine Banana History by Robin Thiers. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2023. 408 pp.

• Main Author: Torres, Justine Nicole V.
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2023
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/socialtransformations/vol11/iss1/6; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/socialtransformations/article/1171/viewcontent/6_20STJGS_2011.1_20Book_20Review_Torres.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Excerpt: Ask a group of people how they like their bananas and responses will vary. For example, in the Philippines, the rich diversity of cultivars allows bananas to serve as both a savory addition to meat dishes and the dessert at the end of meals. The Philippines also famously exports bananas to Japan, where the fruit is so beloved by consumers, that August 7th has been unofficially celebrated as “national banana day,” which is marked by special product promotions and campaigns. Millennials from both countries might have become attached to the Bananas in Pajamas—an Australian show that was translated in Filipino and Japanese, which featured the anthropomorphized bananas B1 and B2 and their fantastical hijinks. These illustrations are admittedly limited, but the variety already begins to demonstrate the entanglement that is a central theme of Dr. Robin Thiers’s work.