Jes Grew an in depth Analysis
Jes Grew an in depth Analysis
In the book Mumbo Jumbo there are a lot of different and unique concepts in the novel. The main plot of this novel is the spread of a "virus" called Jes Grew. Some people call it an "Anti-Virus" because it is non-lethal in any way. Jes Grew is a certain culture growth that effects a country or maybe even effects the world. In the story Jes grew is a development of Black and African culture spreading in America trying to find the text. Overall this concept is very interesting to me. So, for this blog post I want to dive deep into the "Anti-Virus" Jes Grew and anything similar to it.
I would like to First talk about the a similarity to Jes Grew which is in the book Ragtime. In the book Ragtime, there was a character named Coalhouse Walker Jr. and we specialized in Ragtime music. Ragtime music was a mixture of European classical music and then added with African-American rhythms movements and traditions. The growth of Ragtime music started in the 1890's, this was the "Jew Grew" of the late 18th century. Unfortunately, After about 10 years the growth of Ragtime music came to an end and the "Jes Grew" period of Ragtime was over. Although in the mumbo jumbo story the "Jes Grew" period of in the novel is when jazz was becoming popular. I feel like Ragtime is a great way of showing that there were multiple versions of Jes Grew.
I gave some old examples of Jes Grew in the world. So, I want to give some examples of Jes Grew today or in the 20th century. I feel like the idea of "Jes Grew" is very prominent modern things. There are a few things I want to specifically talk about, first being AI. AI is a very controversial technology that we have today. It can almost doing anything, it can make images, make us music, make us videos, and even search things up on the web for us. With all of these things AI can do. Some humans are scared of it, they think that they will use the information they have on humans against humans. Someone people also do like how AI is going to take jobs and people will not be able to make money or have income. It is honestly a bit scary to thing about and is a be culture change and has some people who are against it like Jes Grew in mumbo jumbo. I also think that pop culture now like LGBTQ+ and memes are also kinda like a Jes Grew in the modern era. It is a big culture change and development and some people do not like it.
Overall, I think that the topic of Jes Grew is very interesting. There are a lot of comparisons that you can make of the topic. I love the way mumbo jumbo talks about the jazz era and the culture change of that era. It was very interesting. Like La bass said even if Jes grew "dies" it will still come back because I think Jes Grew is a culture and environment change.
I like how you cover a lot of material on this, and make numerous ties both to the even further past and to the present. I think Mumbo Jumbo is also just interesting for the political/ideological framework that it offers as a new way to interpret the world. I can definitely agree with being hesitant about AI and its developing place in the world, especially as a child of parents who use AI themselves but also have spent a lot of time trying to catch AI cheaters in the classes they teach. I also think that the current culture is facing a lot of political polarization and backlash, and I think that hopefully that would create an environment in which people express this tension in art.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely interesting to consider Coalhouse Walker himself as a manifestation of Jes Grew--he is certainly something that the people in New Rochelle have not seen before, and that reflects the local nature of the culture he represents at this time, but it HAS spread from the South and New Orleans in particular to Harlem by the time of Walker's era--this is indeed the "first outbreak" referred to by Reed. And the fate of his revolutionary movement certainly seems like something that rises (or "just grows") out of nowhere, makes an enormous splash, but then quickly dies out or is forgotten. In a sense, the civil-rights focused revolutionary version of Jes Grew that Coalhouse manifests doesn't actually take hold (yet!) in "real history," so Doctorow has to depict the movement as dying out (or, more accurately, being gunned down in the street with no due process).
ReplyDeleteI'm also reeling from the suggestion that AI could be a form of Jes Grew. It sure seems like we're getting far from what Reed calls "the human seed" with AI, and the "culture" it produces seems in so many ways the opposite of *human*. There are certainly aspects of viral spread, and there are authorities getting anxious, but I don't know how far the analogy really extends. My impulse is to label AI as surely some kind of Atonist thing, maybe even the ultimate "Talking Android." When I read text generated by ChatGPT, especially when it's under the auspices of a human student trying to pass the language off as their own organic creation, I very much feel like I'm in the presence of a talking android, undermining and subverting humanity itself by coopting our language and culture and offering a false and cheapened and deeply inauthentic simulation of our organic reality. But that's just my hot take!
Hey Amari! I really like the parallels that you drew, especially the one with Ragtime. I wonder what made the ragtime Jes Grew outbreak different from the jazz one we see in Mumbo Jumbo. It would definitely be interesting to see Reed's take on Doctorow's Ragtime. It's also very interesting how you connected Jes Grew to the rise of AI today. I wonder if AI is the Atonist talking android in this case? Good job!
ReplyDeleteHey Omarion Tommaso Dixon, your analyzation of how Jes Grew is a portal to cultural and social changes and the way that you brought out that the comparison with Ragtime in how its music died down and transitioned into the jazz era made me feel fruity inside. It lays the foundation for a possibly great essay in the future that could bring out your creative juices further. Great Job!
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