Chapter 2  Amalgamation of Cultures: Differences Embraced 

 It is my habit as a born-again pagan to lie on the earth in worship -Alice Walker

Ishmael Reed‘s Mumbo Jumbo is about the crisis of culture that refuses to
acknowledge itself, exposing the fallacies and limitations of the Western
monotheistic tradition. The novel also explores as an alternative, the libratory
possibilities of ancient pantheistic nature-based religions. In this polyvocal novel,
the environment speaks through the mythic and contemporary figures of Osiris
and PaPaLaBas, one a deity and the other a houngan, both of whom are affiliated
closely with the natural world. Reed sees affinities between African and native
American tribes in terms of both their systems of belief and their victimizations by
European and American political, cultural and religious imperialism. He asserts
that tribal people could be mutually useful in mounting a counter attack on
western civilization, particularly by empowering themselves through the ancient
stories and practices.

 As an accomplished novelist, Multiculturalism stands out as an integral part
in Reed‘s writing. Reed himself has defined multiculturalism as― an amalgamation of
perspectives, art forms and lifestyles from different cultures, past and present‗‗
(Jesse 5).Papa La Bas begins his reconstruction with ‗well if you must know, it all
began thousands of years ago in Egypt, acceding to a high up, murder in the
Haitian aristocracy‗(160.) Reed delves deep into Egyptian mythology of Osiris,
and Isis. They become the progenitors of multiculture and the Mumbo Jumbo
Cathedral. At the same time, Set becomes the symbol of monoculture and the
Wallflower Order. Gradually, Papa La Bas brings together Moses and Jethro,
unifying Egyptian myth with Biblical mythology. This leads to the Medieval
Knight Templar and takes the reader to the Current Wallflower Order. He presents
Egyptian culture as a unique combination of both monoculture and multiculture.
Moses is portrayed as the incarnation of monoculture and Jethro stands out as the
symbol of multiculture.

 In Mumbo Jumbo, Reed makes reference to Egyptian mythology and Old
Testament. He admits that he is engaged in synthesizing and synchronizing.
He synthesizes by blending similar ones and synchronizes by putting together
disparate elements into the same, which is an excellent example of multiculturalism.
Thus, thematically and structurally Mumbo Jumbo is a telling example of
multiculturalism. Another instance of multiculturalism is to be seen in Reed‘s
highlighting of Jazz and Voodoo as representation of multiculture. Being an
accomplished craftsman, Reed makes his Mumbo Jumbo as the platform for his
multicultural through amalgamation and improvisation. An epidemic called Jes
Grew creeps into U.S.A from Haiti and slowly engulfs the nation. Jes Grew
represents the music, dance and rebellion against the status quo. It is also a
metaphor for multiculturalism. It is born out of the subordinate cultures and
inspires people to participate in the new cultural activities. But the Wallflower
Order is threatened by the new freedom and views it as rebellion. In fact, the
Wallflower Order is a metaphor for any part of the dominant culture that fears new
ideas, or tries to preserve its old ways to the detriment of marginalized culture.

The champions of Wallflower Order preach the virtues of Homer, but reject
the modern black writers. The Wallflower Order tries to contain Jes Grew. It resorts
to censoring and co-opting this cultural phenomenon. Gradually, Jes Grew is
searching for its text or doctrine. Once Jes Grew finds its text, it becomes part and
parcel of American culture. Consequently, all the new ideas symbolized by the
jazz age will be accepted by the mainstream society. Throughout Mumbo Jumbo,
Jes Grew is associated with black expressive cultures such as Voodoo, dance, jazz
and blues, and as such seems to function like the blues which according to
Houston A. Baker, comprises ―a meditational site where familiar antinomies are
resolved (or dissolved) in the office of adequate cultural understanding.

 A glance at the reviews and articles reveal how Reed has challenged
literary critics, some of whom have failed to fully understand the black expressive
culture of Vodun that continues to inform Reed‘s writing.

 In an interview given
after Mumbo Jumbo was published, Reed discusses his concerns in the novel:
I want to go into the mysteries of the American civilization. The
American civilization has finally got its rhythm; looking into the
past you can see the rhythms of this civilization. So, I stepped back
to an age that reminds me of the one I‘m writing in. I stepped back
to the twenties. Instead of Nixon, I invoked Harding. The parallels
between the two are remarkable. (Bellamy 133-34)

 To probe the mysteries of the civilization, it is appropriate that Reed uses the
detective genre, essentially a novel of suspense, to structure the novel. The conventions
of this genre enable Reed to depict a world of conflicting powers which the
detective must investigate and explain.

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