The Good Book: Reading Ishmael Reed’s

Mumbo Jumbo as Neo-Hoodoo’s Sacred Text

The Albatross / Volume 5.1 2015
REUBEN COPLEY

https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/albatross/article/view/13452/6092

Sacred - adjective \ˈsā-krəd\
worthy of religious worship : very holy : relating to
religion : highly valued and important : deserving
great respect
Text - noun \ˈtekst\
a verse or passage of Scripture chosen especially
for the subject of a sermon or for authoritative sup
port (as for a doctrine)
passage from an authoritative source providing an
introduction or basis (as for a speech)
source of information or authority
—Merriam Webster Dictionary

Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo uses a bricolage of techniques,
forms, and styles to tell a tale of viral cultural and religious trans-
mission: the story of Jes Grew. Mumbo Jumbo is a trickster that
textually transmutes information (some true and some false) into
a sacred text detailing the influences and history of the Neo-Hoo-
doo.1 The text incorporates a large number of influences from a
diverse array of artistic and intellectual sources to make a case for
an alternative understanding of the cultural history of the world
that challenges the mountebank constructions of the White man:
the “White man will never admit his real references. He will steal
everything you have and still call you those names.

1 Neo-Hoodoo is a term coined by Ishmael Reed that refers to the growth of
traditional African religious practices within the modern context of American
culture and society: the religion of Dahomey translated and transported to
Haiti and then onwards to New Orleans.