Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed tackles the spread of black culture and social dynamics of 1920s America. The book opens up with the description of the main conflict: “Don’t you understand, if this Jes Grew becomes pandemic it will mean the end of Civilization As We Know It?... This is a psychic epidemic, not a lesser germ like typhoid yellow fever or syphilis” (Reed 4-5). Jes Grew, or a signifier of black culture, manifests as a metaphorical disease that spreads across America “following a strange course” such as “Pine Bluff and Magnolia Arkansas…Nashville and Knoxville Tennessee as well as St. Louis” (Reed 13). The choice in depicting black culture as a disease highlights the racial tensions between the predominant white culture, and the upcoming marginalized cultures. It demonstrates the moral panic over jazz and the common ideology that black culture is—like a virus—infecting white culture.
Culture is organic. It’s something that cannot be predicted and grows in its own ways. It’s more of a social phenomenon; something that cannot be created by a single person. In this, it raises the question of where did these cultures come from? Especially with no basis nor known authors, are these cultures just as legitimate without having a single, identifiable originator? Will cultures without a text eventually die out, suggesting that it is less than and will be forgotten? What does it mean that Jes Grew is “seeking its text?” As emphasized by James Weldon Johnson, Jes Grew’s “words were unprintable, but the tune was irresistible, and belonged to nobody.” Ishmael Reed investigates these ideas as the main characters in Mumbo Jumbo all seek for the Text of Jes Grew, all with different motives. Having a text almost immortalizes a culture in history, recording its existence and contextualizing it within the greater scope of history. The greatest indicator of culture is the social responses it brings. Through understanding the context of a culture, only then can one comprehend its significance. Within Mumbo Jumbo, there is a larger cultural, social, and political context to understand for Jes Grew to reach its full importance. We also see this with the work of the Mu’Tafikah: returning artworks that are stranded from its cultural context to its original location, thus restoring its meaning.
Culture is also impacted by its outside influences. When a minority culture is appropriated and taken into the dominant one, it is viewed as less of a threat. The over looming threat of Jes Grew was successfully neutralized as it was able to integrate into the dominant white culture in a way. This is seen with the plans of Hinkle Von Vampton and the Wallflower Order, with Vampton planning to take Jes Grew and appropriate it in order to counteract it. Despite Jes Grew “dying out” in the end, PaPa LaBas explains to Earline that “Jes Grew has no end and no beginning…We will miss it for a while but it will come back, and when it returns we will see that it never left” (Reed 204).
If we take Jes Grew as a larger metaphor for a secondary social phenomenon that attacks the position of the dominant society, examples of Jes Grew are present everywhere. Similar to an epidemic, it’s viewed as a threat until it can be contained. It never truly dies out until it resurges once again. They both spread and go viral in waves. Ishmael Reed highlights the social dynamics of a rising marginalized group and the outbreak and response it elicits from the main group.
I hadn't thought about Jes Grew as not only an organic creature but a virus in relation to white culture - interesting point. In a way you could see it as a cancer, a cell duplication gone wrong that hijacks your bodies resources and enlivens the cancerous cells, at the expense of the rest of your body. There are a lot of organic metaphors that work, but they are all very interesting. Normally, we think about social phenomena as originating from a given person or event, but Jes Grew is unique because it does spawn completely independently.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of Mumbo Jumbo was really interesting and captured Jes Grew's dynamics well. The search for its "text" raised a lot of questions to me about cultural legitimacy and preservation. Though threatened by appropriation, Jes Grew's resilient, cyclical nature shows the toughness of marginalized cultures. I might be reaching, but I wonder if the absence of a definitive text is part of what gives Jes Grew its elusive, unstoppable power.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post! You touch on a lot of aspects of Jes Grew that I havent thought about. I never thought of Jes Grew finding its text as a way for it to determine its significance in our society. I also think you make a really good point about Jes Grew being integrated into society and how once it is accepted it loses its power. I think Reed demonstrates that with the trend of people wearing Hatian clothing items and accessories, for a little while it was popular and radical and then after a while the hype died out and it just became another temporary trend.
ReplyDeleteI love the flexibility of the metaphor of plague/anti-plague for Jes Grew, and it really seems to reflect the ways that culture both spreads AND is resisted by those who are threatened by it. We have a "disease" that is either "enlivening" or a form of illness, depending on your perspective: the Atonists fear dance, physicality, sexuality, and fun in general, while in the novel, it's the young people of all races who WANT to catch this virus. When you think about the ways we've talked about culture and its spread historically, we often do talk about something "catching on," or a "fever" that the person WANTS to feel. Someone sees someone else dancing, to a catchy rhythm, and the phenomenon spreads throughout the community. It's a wonderful coincidence that the contemporary meaning of "going viral" speaks so strongly to the ways that Reed depicts the infectious spread of culture.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really insightful post. The parallels between epidemics and culture were established early on in Mumbo Jumbo, and and I think it's a really interesting way to try to describe culture. I think your exploration of cultural dynamics, appropriation, and societal responses helps us understand Reed's commentary and intended message about marginalized cultures and their interaction with the dominant society.
ReplyDeleteI really like the point you made about how a text can "immortalize" culture. Although I don't think a text can ever fully represent the emotion, tension, and all the other factors involved in culture, it can definitely help bolster pride around said culture. This is why many white people throughout Mumbo Jumbo fear the Jes Grew text and view it as a threat to western society.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post that explores the complexity between culture, race, and society. I think its very important to remember how we can look out for Jes Grew dynamics even in todays society, because like you mentioned Jes Grew never truley dies out, until it resurges again. And I feel a physic epidemic like Jes Grew will always resurge.
ReplyDeleteWhile I had previously understood Jes Grew as a form of culture (black culture, that is, as you say), I didn't fully recognize the way you talk about it as a culture: the fact that cultures have to come from somewhere. I always understood the idea of seeking the text as JG trying to understand itself, or find a place where it could rest, but I really really like your ideas about the text being JG's beginning.
ReplyDeleteI found your almost medical depiction of Jes Grew as a viral infection interesting; in particular, the relevance of black culture spreading via pop culture is undeniable nowadays, like how we see people of all races using originally black vernacular. For example, the whole thing with Jamaican slang being thrown around all the time on the internet--it's so interesting to see the ideas discussed in Reed's novel manifested within our everday lives.
ReplyDeleteIn your post's title, the use of 'viral' seems to give slight reference of social media and I feel that it gives depth to another potential facet of Jes Grew's modern day existence. You note that aside from the speed at which Jes Grew spreads—at a viral pace—the viral (and thus harmful) impression that arises when the existing system is challenged gives a helpful expansion into the true nature of 'disruptive' phenomena. I'm drawn to think about the recent government actions regarding various forms of social media regulation; aside from the growth of social justice movements (which may sometimes be characterized by lawmakers as harmful) through social platforms, it seems like another motivation could be the fact that the government might feel that it's power is threatened and must then reassert its authority through control or re-appropriation.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Khuyen! You really explain the complexity of this book in an elegant and helpful way. I really liked how you explained how outside forces/societal forces could impact culture (and thus Jes Grew). Jes Grew will never truly die out, regardless of how it may seem at the time. It will continue it's cycle of 'dying' and 'reviving' until society has died out.
ReplyDeleteYour point about culture being organic meshes really well with the anti-plague nature of Jes Grew; both being something unpredictable and of confusing origin. Jes grew is something that just goes dormant and comes back in a wave like a natural plague.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this book I always sort of imaginied Jes Grew as a living entity. The fact that its spread was due to it "seeking its text" only personifies it more, so your connection with culture and it being organic makes sense to me. Jes Grew's organic and viral spread also reflects on its own nature, as black culture and especially jazz is known for improvisation and being very dynamic.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm about to type might feel racist, but I will type it anyway. I'm fascinated by the difference in the feel of different cultures- I notice that music made by black people tends to give me and the people around me a much deeper spiritual feeling than music made by white people. Why is this? One theory I have is that dealing with pain and suffering tends to cause a deeper spiritual connection to life, and the average african american experience vs white american experience in history seems to be filled with significantly more pain and suffering. Anyways I love your blog, you made really interesting connections that I hadn't thought of before!
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