The Deforming Mirror of Truth: A Reading of Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo

Abstract

Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo calls for a national history that incorporates black experience and culture. Focusing on the form of the content as well as the content of the form, the present paper discusses the process of constructing another history, which subverts the icons of Western hegemony: social codes, reality, conventions, etc., in order for a hybrid culture to prevail. In other words, it elaborates on the way Mumbo Jumbo juxtaposes both cultural histories, integrating indeterminacy with the effect of de-totalizing the meta-narrative of the Western culture.