During the very first Mumbo Jumbo reading, I was really interested by Reed's comparison of the 20th century to a giant "Age Race" (pg 20) because the analogy gives a lot of insight into the greater context of Jes Grew's growth during the time period. He basically describes the time period as a time when many different trends are vying to be the one which is remembered at the end of the era. Everyone is competing to be the face of the 20th century. He continues, saying, "Now imagine this Age Race occurring before a crowd of society idlers you would expect to find at 1 of those blue-ribbon dog shows." It's pretty obvious that this refers to privileged white people - becoming part of mainstream culture is a contest, and white people are the judges. At first though, white people aren't too into the Jes Grew craze, because it's outlandish and scandalous. Black culture is the "hound mongrel" next to pekinese and collies.
What's interesting is that the cultural appropriation we usually associate with jazz, and black culture in general, has not actually come into play yet. The dominant white culture that we hear about still views Jes Grew as a plague, and they want nothing to do with it.We hear about some of the younger white kids joining in, but even these kids aren't portrayed as appropriating the culture. Instead they seem to be appreciating the culture, or maybe more realistically, rebelling against their parents and the older generation by taking part. The latter is a separate issue, but still, no one seems to be stealing culture and parading it as their own. I think this is evident of the thin line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation - at what point will this more or less innocent participation turn into the widespread cultural appropriation we're all waiting for?
Knowing the outcome of this story in history, we know that its the Jes Grew hound mongrel who will ultimately win out. Jazz does in fact become hugely popular across the nation and it ends up being the culture "that gives [the era] its summary." What the analogy of the "Age Race" demonstrates, though, is that Jazz's success did not come because of the inherent validity of black culture as it was perceived by white people. It was not an audience of black judges discussing the genre - it was an audience of white judges, because who else is there, other than white people, to determine the intrinsic value of different cultures? The implication is that the reason Jazz gained recognition as a true form of music, or black culture as a true form of American culture, is because White people gave it the stamp of approval ----which really really sucks !!!
What's interesting is that the cultural appropriation we usually associate with jazz, and black culture in general, has not actually come into play yet. The dominant white culture that we hear about still views Jes Grew as a plague, and they want nothing to do with it.We hear about some of the younger white kids joining in, but even these kids aren't portrayed as appropriating the culture. Instead they seem to be appreciating the culture, or maybe more realistically, rebelling against their parents and the older generation by taking part. The latter is a separate issue, but still, no one seems to be stealing culture and parading it as their own. I think this is evident of the thin line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation - at what point will this more or less innocent participation turn into the widespread cultural appropriation we're all waiting for?
Knowing the outcome of this story in history, we know that its the Jes Grew hound mongrel who will ultimately win out. Jazz does in fact become hugely popular across the nation and it ends up being the culture "that gives [the era] its summary." What the analogy of the "Age Race" demonstrates, though, is that Jazz's success did not come because of the inherent validity of black culture as it was perceived by white people. It was not an audience of black judges discussing the genre - it was an audience of white judges, because who else is there, other than white people, to determine the intrinsic value of different cultures? The implication is that the reason Jazz gained recognition as a true form of music, or black culture as a true form of American culture, is because White people gave it the stamp of approval ----which really really sucks !!!
I hadn't thought of Jes Grew in the context of cultural appropriation, even though it makes sense to. Almost every form of Jes Grew that comes to mind (jazz, rock, hip-hop, etc.) has been appropriated and popularized by white America. But then that complicates the idea of Jes Grew as an plague (or anti-plague). If it's a plague, what kind of plague eventually becomes well-received and adapted for an audience that once was disgusted by it. If it's an anti-plague, how could it be corrupted to become something for white people?
ReplyDeleteWow, this is really interesting. When does the switch occur in history when white people begin to think of black culture as something to appropriate, and not a plague? I'm going to start paying more attention in the readings to how Reed treats white characters who catch Jes Grew as the book goes on to see how he understands cultural appropriation. Thanks for the brain food!!
ReplyDeleteI think that the analogy of white people deciding if Jes Grew gets the "stamp of approval" is interesting, because the way that we see it Jew Grew is kind of taking culture by force as opposed to politely knocking and asking if it can be the face of the 20th century. I hadn't thought of Jew Grew as a form of cultural appropriation, and I think that you're right - people are really just enjoying the culture as opposed to trying to alter it and make a mockery of it.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your last sentence and I 100% agree with it. I think it's quite cool how you pointed out the stark reality of this book and related it to the present day. I feel like this class delves a lot in how the book was portrayed during the time but your blog post opened my eyes to a new perspective!
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