Where There Was Fire, John Manuel Aria

 

One of the most powerful attributes of literature is that it offers a channel to amplify voices, narratives and perspectives that have otherwise been silenced, marginalised or ignored. Transnational corporations and international conglomerates have so much wealth and influence that they can alter their own narratives, forging documents, destroying evidence and sponsoring government leaders to support their version of events in order to erase any crimes they are responsible for. Fiction acts as a counterpoint to this monopolisation of history, allowing the communities affected by such corruption to reclaim the narrative and present their own version of events.

This is exactly what John Manuel Aria achieves in his debut novel. This searing piece of fiction employs magical realism and a delineated narrative form – both post-colonial techniques that resist the authority of Western literary tradition – to confront the neo-colonial malversation of the United Fruit Company, the largest and most lucrative importer of bananas from South America to the U.S. and Europe.

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Image source < [Three men in a boat transporting bananas to the city markets in Panama] - digital file from b&w film copy neg. | Library of Congress >