A Viral Concept; What is Jes Grew?
The oral tradition is often spoken of when discussing the histories of places where written language didn’t exist, or at least was not prominent. Often, we may think of Africa (although it is much too large a continent to describe well briskly). In the book (Our Text; “Mumbo Jumbo”), Jes Grew; an anti-plague (or plague, depending on who you ask) began it’s outbreak in New Orleans– in connection to Haiti– and is described to have a Text. This Text contains the dance moves of a prince from ancient Egypt, who was the first recorded case of Jes Grew. However, the text turns out to have never really been, nor would it have fully encapsulated the polytheistic and ever-fluid Jes Grew. So, what exactly is Jes Grew?
One might consider Jes Grew to be a feeling (after all, those are caught easily). One might especially be led to believe this due to the Papa La Bas quote on page 211. “Scott Joplin has healed many with his ability to summon this X factor, the Thing that Freud saw, the indefinable quality that James Weldon Johnson called ‘Jes Grew’,” (Reed, 211). This quote, in no better words than it says itself, describes Jes Grew as a quality. You cannot exactly define it, you just know that it’s this je ne sais quoi, this X factor, this thing. Knowing this much, one cannot pin-point what makes something Jes Grew, but when it’s Jes Grew, it is clear.
Nonetheless, Jes Grew was born as a dance– or at least first recorded as such– which again feeds into this idea that it’s an intangible thing (an action? A feeling? A tune? Who knows). Still, Jes Grew was born very cultural, and continues to be cultural, throughout different cultures. “... ‘it belonged to nobody,’ Johnson said. ‘Its words were unprintable but its tune irresistible.’,” (Reed, 211) This quote, while Papa Labas continues describing what others have called Jes Grew, and how they have defined it, he says that it belonged to nobody. This is a very interesting idea, as we see many times in the book, culture– specifically marginalized cultures– are seen as the carriers of Jes Grew, and it spreads to the white kids scrupulously (as seen by Atonists). Still, we see that it belonged to nobody. Can somebody cheapen a movement by undermining it? It seems that with the android (Hubert “Safecracker” Gould dressed in blackface), immediately the Harlem Renaissance dies (Reed, 160). With this, it is understood that authenticity is a thing, and if it is, perhaps that’s Jes Grew. Not to mention the polytheistic qualities of the book make one consider that multiple cultures, multiple Loas (Gods), are real, and a commitment to one is foolish. The idea of a “spiritual heritage” (Reed, 212) is brought up, and perhaps that’s the only type of heritage that matters to Jes Grew.
Hi Sophie, I really liked your explication on what exactly Jes Grew is. I agree it has a convoluted definition - I mean, what exactly does it mean to catch a feeling? Additionally, I liked how you described qualities of Jes Grew - its spreads and is irresistible. I do think it is interesting that you mention that Jes Grew died because of Gould dressed in Blackface. I believed that Jes Grew had perished because Abdul had burned the Book with Jes Grew's dance rituals, but these two factors in combination would make for an interesting point Reed might be trying to make.
ReplyDeleteThe analogy between the "undefinable x-factor" view of Jes Grew and dance makes a lot of sense when we think about it: there's no visible or tangible "thing" or element that leads a person to respond to rhythm in a particular way, but it's clear that rhythm is *infectious* and that people responding to it might look like they are suddenly possessed by an invisible external force. The voodoo/African religious tradition is full of rituals in which people are possessed by loas, and this manifests in strenuous physical dancing and echolalia. So the analogy between this sacred view of rhythm and dance as a way to commune with the spirit world and people going nuts over the new dance trend really checks out--and they both look scary and threatening to the Wallflower Order, who value *control* over people's bodies and spiritual expression most of all.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Jes Grew is undefinable in so many ways: of course its "x-factor," but also its polytheistic nature that rejects any one loa, who really created it, and what ultimately caused the iteration of it explored in the book to die. And especially for those like the Wallflower Order, this slippery, ever-shifting nature scares them. How can they take back control over the people if they can't even define the thing that currently holds it? I agree with all of this, and the question of "What even IS Jes Grew?" remains in my mind.
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