Banana rebellion: Food and power in Lindsey Collen’s mutiny

The banana is a culturally important food in much of Africa. Originally an Asian food, it has been grown in East Africa since the time of Arabic trade. It forms a staple food for much of the African population (afrol News online); but the Mauritian writer, Lindsey Collen, takes a surprisingly lyrical approach to, ‘A fruit that’s also a vegetable. A vegetable that’s also a staple. The most magic of all fruit, all vegetables, all staples’ (247). Such praise for the banana recognises it as extraordinary; indeed, the abundant, common and often comically phallic banana is given iconic status in her novel Mutiny.