While I think Ishmael Reed is mostly focusing on the Harlem Renaissance in Mumbo Jumbo, in many ways he also alludes to things from the 1970s and seems to be making predictions of future years. He seems to be tracking the Jes Grew, as well as Atonism, from ancient Egypt to the present, which in this case is the 1970s. I think when he was writing this he had the Black Arts movement in mind, and in a lot of ways this book is a work of the Black Arts movement. I think that at some point we talked about how it reads kind of like jazz poetry, and it uses a lot of collage earlier in the book. There's some multivocality as well, and even though it mostly seems to be narrated by Reed himself, sometimes he will insert comments from himself and he often quotes other people. There are also a lot ways he goes against the traditional structure of a novel, like having the first chapter before the title page, having 2 chapter 52s, and constantly switching perspectives at some points.
Another reference to present when Reed is writing is Abdul Sufi Hamid, who is both a reference to Malcolm X, as well as to Sufi Abdul Hamid, who was one of the first African American people to convert to Islam. Much like Malcolm X, Abdul started reading in prison and learned a lot of things that weren't taught in schools. He also mentions that in the future "someone is coming...He might even have the red hair of a conjure man but he won't be one", which is a reference to one of Malcolm's early nicknames, "Detroit Red" (39). One other similarity is that they were both killed with at least somewhat religious motivations, though I'm not sure if Atonism is more of a religion or an ideology. I think part of the reason Reed includes Abdul is just to show that the Jes Grew was coming back in the 1970s. Even though Abdul opposed it, it was that figures like him were reemerging and it was all starting to make a resurgence.
While Reed does seem to be implying that Jes Grew is coming back in the '70s, he also implies that it will continue to come back in the future. We talked about how he was kind of anticipating hip hop as another outbreak of Jes Grew, and I think he was definitely anticipating something like it. He says in the last few sentences that "In the 20s they knew. And the 20s were back again...Time is a pendulum. Not a river" (218). This seems like Reed knew that something was about to happen he just wasn't sure what. Maybe the Black Arts movement had created a new text, or Mumbo Jumbo is the text, and that would allow Jes Grew to take hold this time. In some ways it kind of has, but I think that today we're at a point where something like Jes Grew could come back. Reed definitely could not have predicted the internet, but it seems like that's probably where the next form of Jes Grew will originate, if it does return again.
I think one of Reed's more interesting "historical inclusions/distortions" is Hinckle Von Hampton and the whole concept of sabotaging culture or movements. His role in trying to appropriate the Harlem Renaissance makes him capable of transforming the complexity of the ideas of the renaissance into one singular artform, thereby dimishing the movement's power and credibility within society. In making this real world parallel, Reed can imply that these kinds of infiltrations actually do happen and urge the reader to be wary of those trying to imitate a culture versus those who are actually trying to contribute to it.
ReplyDeleteThe "future Text" stuff at the end of _Mumbo Jumbo_ is among my favorite aspects of this novel: it really drives home the implicit thesis that the history of the 1920s can serve as clarifying context for the 1970s, but at the same time, future readers are encouraged to view the 1970s and after (as the Jes Grew/Atonism conflict continues to play out, as Reed is certain it will) in terms of the paradigm the novel has set out.
ReplyDeleteThis is partly what I'm thinking of when I refer to the novel giving us "Reed glasses" through which to view our familiar world in a new light: if Reed is "right" about the history he portrays, we should be able to see evidence of the conflict throughout our history. The novel leaves the ball in the reader's court: we have been given a new frame through which to view American history AND the present.
I like how you described how Mumbo Jumbo, while rooted in the Harlem Renaissance, also reflects the Black Arts Movement of Reed's time and anticipates future cultural shifts. By drawing parallels to real-life figures and hinting at the cyclical nature of Jes Grew, Reed suggests that black cultural resistance will continue to resurface in new forms, perhaps next online. Social media and online platforms have definitely become key spaces for marginalized voices to be heard and for new big cultural moments to occur. It's not hard to imagine how the power of the internet could fuel a present-day Jes Grew.
ReplyDeleteI find the idea of a "modern Jes Grew" to be pretty interesting; pop culture and society in general have seen pretty big changes since the time of Reed's novel, so, by association, I would imagine Jes Grew would take on a different form as well. Yet, in our digital age where everything is accessible to everyone, can there really exist one central text from which Jes Grew draws its power? While Jes Grew undoubtedly exists in our time in the form of modern Hip-Hop and Rap, I wonder if it too, like all living things, has evolved into something new with time.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really great catch Ben! I didn't even realize that the "someone is coming...He might even have the red hair of a conjure man but he won't be one" line was a reference to Malcolm X, but it totally makes sense. Upon further research, I found out that Reed actually interviewed Malcolm X when he was a young writer, and it completely changes his life---so it makes sense he would try to include the way X thinks in Abdul Sufi Hamid. Apparently, Reed even lost his job by interviewing Malcolm X (I'm still unclear as to how specifically), which might be his influence for some of the job instability we see for the writers in Mumbo Jumbo, who were kinda forced to follow a white person's narrative (specifically von Hinkle's).
ReplyDeleteI think the very subtle messages that you point out in this blog very much push the idea that Jes Grew is this omnipresent, life source that animates sociopolitical and cultural events very much inherent to human nature - to expand broader, perhaps this idea of Jes Grew as being this general idea of a joyful cultural export certainly attaches well to the existence of humans; when Jes Grew controversies occur, it the phenomena of Jes Grew that go face to face with a culture apprehensive to it (which seems to be a universal human social reflex). This is to say that maybe Jes Grew will not exist eternally in the chronological sense but Jes Grew and its related dynamics will continue to exist for the eternity of humanity.
ReplyDeleteThe connections that Reed makes to the 70s are often very small and specific, and it's really cool that you can see these references. I think that jes grew pendulum like growth and recession is really highlighted by the references that reed makes and being able to connect his 1920's storyline to his 1970's present is important in identifying how that pendulum swings
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