Central to the plot of Mumbo Jumbo is the 'virus' that is Jes Grew, a cultural phenomenon that is spreading across the United States is believed by the Wallflower Order to be disintegrating the root of Western Culture. As it is described in the first couple pages of the book, "We knew that something was Jes Grewing just like the 1890s flair-up. We thought that the local infestation area was Place Congo so we put our antipathetic substances to work on it, to try to drive it out; but it started to play hide and seek with us, a case occurring in 1 neighborhood and picking up in another. It began to leapfrog around us." (4) Although Jes Grew is a fictional phenomenon (or at least that's what that Atonists say), the features and patterns of Jes Grew mirror those of the spread of jazz during the Jazz Age.
The Jazz Age was a period in the 1920s and 1930s during which the style of jazz music and everything that accompanied it spread and got its footing in American culture. Not so coincidentally, Mumbo Jumbo is also set in the 1920s (well, most of it is) and the spread of Jes Grew seems to have peaked around this time. Originating in New Orleans, jazz spread up North and around the country as African Americans moved out of the South during the Great Migration. As African Americans moved North for job opportunities and to escape the oppressive system of Southern sharecropping, they brought jazz with them. The path jazz took is similar to that of Jes Grew. Jes Grew is said to have originated in Congo Square (a spot that has also had a tremendous influence on jazz) in New Orleans and spread all over the country. Mumbo Jumbo itself is set in New York, which was also a prominent center for jazz and Jazz Age culture, especially Harlem.
I think another thing to look into is also the symptoms and the way that it's more of an "anti-plague" than an actual plague, like we talked about in class. Instead of making people weak and tired, it makes them happier and more energetic. In combination with the time period, origin, path, and notable cities that you mentioned, the similarities are so clear.
ReplyDeleteEven though we already discussed the connection between Jes Grew and Jazz in class. it's really interesting to see you take it a step further and research the background of Jazz and show the distinct parallels between it and Jes Grew, such as the pattern of their spreads. I wonder if there are any further connections such as how Jazz "died out" or became less noticable, because in Mumbo Jumbo, Jes Grew quickly dies out.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your inclusion of historical migration trends to help supplement our understanding of jazz culture and its origins. Jazz as a manifestation of culture in Mumbo Jumbo is absolutely what Ishmael Reed is getting at with Jes Grew (or at least an example of it), and recognizing that history is crucial to the way we as readers understand the social commentary he's trying to make.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the history of jazz is a great way of reinforcing that jazz was the prime manifestation of Jes' Grew during the time period of Mumbo Jumbo. The history of jazz also seems to have parallels with the way Jes' Grew first spread around the world -- just like jazz, Jes' Grew spread through Osiris's subjects who were trying to escape the oppression of Set and brought the ways of Osiris with them as they escaped. It was really interesting how connected the history of jazz to Jes' Grew. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Janaki! I loved the extra research you put into delving deeper into the novel and tracing back the roots of Jes Grew. The striking similarities between the path of jazz and the path of Jes Grew just goes to show how much thought Ishmael Reed put into this novel. Although much of it may seem arbitrary, much of the novel is grounded in pure historical fact, although it is heavily masked by incorporating multiple fictional elements into the plot.
ReplyDeleteYou did really nice job exploring Reed's depiction of Jes Grew through a historical lens! I think your discussion of how jazz traveled North with the Black people who migrated there reflects an important part of Mumbo Jumbo—even though it's centered around this kind of mystical, supernatural phenomenon, it's, at its core, a human story. Just as a plague needs people to be able to spread, the fate of Jes Grew depends on those who embrace it and help to expose more people to it.
ReplyDeleteThis all makes a lot of sense, but I would add that Reed is also referring to the Harlem Renaissance with Jes Grew--the literary and cultural movement that came along with the jazz phenomenon (its "text," in a sense). The "outbreak" of Black literature and art in the 1920s in Harlem is saturated with jazz aesthetics, but it goes beyond jazz in a number of important ways--Reed is contemplating the cultural value of this movement, and its "staying power" in the years after. Remember that HVV is a caricature of Carl Van Vechten, one of the primary "artistic patrons" and organizers of the Harlem Renaissance--HVV tries to undermine Jes Grew with a *poet* not a jazz musician.
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