Editing Banana (section)

== Cultural roles ==

[[File:Chhat Puja Worship Material.jpg|thumb|Bananas used in [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] in the Hindu festival of [[Chhath]] in Northern India]]

=== Arts ===

The [[Edo period]] poet [[Matsuo Bashō]] is named after the Japanese word 芭蕉 ({{lang|ja|Bashō}}) for the [[Musa basjoo|Japanese banana]]. The {{lang|ja|Bashō}} planted in his garden by a grateful student became a source of inspiration to his poetry, as well as a symbol of his life and home.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shirane |first=Haruo |title=Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Bashō |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8047-3099-0 |location=Stanford |page=64}}</ref>

The song "[[Yes! We Have No Bananas]]" was written by [[Frank Silver]] and [[Irving Cohn]] and originally released in 1923; for many decades, it was the best-selling [[sheet music]] in history. Since then the song has been rerecorded several times and has been particularly popular during banana shortages.<ref name="Shaw-1987">{{cite book |first =Arnold |last =Shaw |title =The Jazz Age: Popular Music in 1920s |chapter ="Yes! We have No Bananas"/"Charleston" (1923) |publisher =Oxford University Press |year =1987 |page =132 |isbn =9780195060829 |chapter-url ={{google books |plainurl=y |id=MECLMrzcC9kC132Yes!%20We%20Have%20No%20Bananas |page=132}} |url-status=live |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170223045222/https://books.google.com/books?id=MECLMrzcC9kC&lpg=PA132&pg=PA132#v=onepage&q=Yes!%20We%20Have%20No%20Bananas |archive-date =February 23, 2017 |df =mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="oeppel-2005">{{cite journal |author=Dan Koeppel |date=2005 |title=Can This Fruit Be Saved? |journal=[[Popular Science]] |volume=267 |issue=2 |pages=60–70 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=aAJ8pAwSkkUC62}} |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222190916/https://books.google.com/books?id=aAJ8pAwSkkUC&lpg=PA62&pg=PA60#v=onepage&q=Yes!%20We%20Have%20No%20Bananas%20shortage |archive-date=February 22, 2017}}</ref>

A person slipping on a [[banana peel]] has been a staple of [[physical comedy]] for generations. An American comedy recording from 1910 features a popular character of the time, "Uncle Josh", claiming to describe his own such incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/CalStewart_part2 |title=Collected Works of Cal Stewart part 2 |access-date=November 17, 2010 |last=Stewart |first=Cal |website=Uncle Josh in a Department Store (1910) |publisher=The Internet Archive }}</ref>

The banana's suggestively phallic shape has been exploited in artworks from Giorgio de Chirico's 1913 painting ''The Uncertainty of the Poet'' onwards. In 2019, an exhibition of [[Natalia LL]]'s video and set of photographs showing a woman "sucking on a banana" at the [[National Museum in Warsaw]] was taken down and the museum's director reprimanded.<ref name="Jones-2019">{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Jonathan |title=Bananas in art: a short history of the salacious, disturbing and censored fruit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2019/apr/30/bananas-most-political-fruit-history-art-natalia-ll-censored |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=30 April 2019}}</ref> The cover artwork for [[The Velvet Underground & Nico|the 1967 debut album]] of [[The Velvet Underground]] features a banana made by [[Andy Warhol]]. On the original vinyl LP version, the design allowed the listener to "peel" this banana to find a pink, peeled banana on the inside.<ref name="DeMain-2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/109881 |title=The Stories Behind 11 Classic Album Covers |author=Bill DeMain |date=11 December 2011 |publisher=mental_floss |access-date=6 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028180601/http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/109881 |archive-date=28 October 2012}}</ref> In 1989, the feminist [[Guerrilla Girls|Guerilla Girls]] made a screenprint with two bananas, intentionally reminiscent of Warhol's, arranged to form a "0" to answer the question in the artwork, "How many works by women artists were in the Andy Warhol and Tremaine auctions at Sotheby's?".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Annie |title=A Guide to the Banana In (Feminist) Art History |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-guide-to-the-banana-in-feminist-art-history/ |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date=19 July 2024 |date=17 December 2019}}</ref>

Italian artist [[Maurizio Cattelan]] created a 2019 concept art piece titled ''[[Comedian (artwork)|Comedian]]''<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Neil |first=Luke |title=One banana, what could it cost? $120,000 – if it's art |date=6 December 2019 |work=The Guardian |access-date=25 December 2019 |archive-date=30 December 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/06/maurizio-cattelan-banana-duct-tape-comedian-art-basel-miami |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230170749/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/06/maurizio-cattelan-banana-duct-tape-comedian-art-basel-miami |url-status=live}}</ref> involving taping a banana to a wall using silver [[duct tape]]. The piece was exhibited briefly at the Art Basel in Miami before being removed from the exhibition and eaten without permission in another artistic stunt titled ''Hungry Artist'' by New York artist [[David Datuna]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/arts/design/banana-removed-art-basel.html |title=Banana Splits: Spoiled by Its Own Success, the $120,000 Fruit Is Gone |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=8 December 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date=25 December 2019 |archive-date=15 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215171600/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/arts/design/banana-removed-art-basel.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Religion and folklore ===

[[File:XRF-Tani-.jpg|thumb |upright |''[[Nang Tani]]'', the female [[ghost]] of Thai folklore that haunts banana plants]]
In India, bananas serve a prominent part in many festivals and occasions of [[Hindu]]s. In [[Hindu wedding|South Indian weddings]], particularly [[Tamil culture|Tamil weddings]], banana trees are tied in pairs to form an [[arch]] as a blessing to the couple for a long-lasting, useful life.<ref name="Indian Mirror">{{cite web |title=Banana trees in weddings |publisher=Indian Mirror |url=https://www.indianmirror.com/culture/indian-folklore/Banana-Tree.html |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824124514/https://www.indianmirror.com/culture/indian-folklore/Banana-Tree.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="EarthstOriez-2017">{{cite web |title=Legends, myths and folklore of the banana tree in India - its use in traditional culture |publisher=EarthstOriez |date=May 2, 2017 |url=https://www.earthstoriez.com/india-banana/ |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824195320/https://www.earthstoriez.com/india-banana/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Thailand, it is believed that [[Musa balbisiana|a certain type]] of banana plant may be inhabited by a spirit, [[Nang Tani]], a type of ghost related to trees and similar plants that manifests itself as a young woman.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thailand-amulets.net/?p=3485 |title=Banana Tree Prai Lady Ghost |publisher=Thailand-amulets.net |date=March 19, 2012 |access-date=August 26, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108095417/http://thailand-amulets.net/?p=3485 |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref> People often tie a length of colored satin cloth around the pseudostem of the banana plants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thaiworldview.com/bouddha/animism5.htm |title=Spirits |publisher=Thaiworldview.com |access-date=August 26, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630004429/http://thaiworldview.com/bouddha/animism5.htm |archive-date=June 30, 2012 }}</ref>

In [[Ethnic Malays|Malay folklore]], the ghost known as [[Pontianak (folklore)|Pontianak]] is associated with banana plants (''pokok pisang''), and its spirit is said to reside in them during the day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.castleofspirits.com/pontianak.html |title=Pontianak- South East Asian Vampire |publisher=Castleofspirits.com |access-date=May 13, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720203622/http://castleofspirits.com/pontianak.html |archive-date=July 20, 2014 }}</ref>

=== Racial signifier ===

{{See also|List of ethnic slurs#Banana|Racism in sport}}

In European, British, and Australian sport, throwing a banana at a member of an opposing team has long been used as a form of [[racial abuse]].<ref name="Mills-2016">{{cite web |last1=Mills |first1=Charles W. |last2=Hund |first2=Wulf D. |title=Comparing black people to monkeys has a long, dark simian history |url=https://theconversation.com/comparing-black-people-to-monkeys-has-a-long-dark-simian-history-55102 |website=The Conversation |access-date=13 July 2024 |date=29 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Jackson-2014">{{cite web |title=The ugly, racist trend of tossing bananas at black soccer players continues |first=Allison |last=Jackson |website=The World |date=13 May 2014 |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2014-05-13/ugly-racist-trend-tossing-bananas-black-soccer-players-continues |access-date=13 July 2024 |others=[[Agence France-Presse]], [[GlobalPost]]}}</ref> The act, which was commonplace in England in the 1980s, is meant to taunt players of [[Black African]] ancestry by equating them to apes or monkeys.<ref name="Evans-2016">{{cite news |last1=Evans |first1=Richard |title=Richard Evans: Throwing bananas at black sportsmen has been recognised as racism across Europe for decades |url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/richard-evans-throwing-bananas-at-black-sportsmen-has-been-recognised-as-racism-across-europe-for-decades/news-story/afcb5d4a634119b327507e7616755e0b |access-date=13 July 2024 |work=The Advertiser |date=22 August 2016 |location=Adelaide}}</ref>