Culture Jail
Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo has been densely packed with satire and not-so-subtle
irony thus far. All of his critiques are worth discussing, but the one which
caught my attention the most was his disdain for museums. Reed mixes in a thread
bashing museums seamlessly alongside many other critical statements, however
this one intrigued me more because I didn’t expect it. The argument made sense,
especially in the context of Reed’s other arguments, but it had not occurred to
me before. I typically though of museums as places protecting and documenting
things. Museums rarely occurred to me as a place where things are trapped.
The first place this idea appears is
the beginning of chapter 2. Reed begins from the perspective of the Atonists,
observing the jes’ grew epidemic. When the Mu’tafikah
raid museums and send their contents back to their native lands, the
Atonists fear that, “if these treasures got into the ‘wrong hands’ (the
countries from which they were stolen) there would be renewed enthusiasms for
the Ikons of the aesthetically victimized civilizations” (15). The people with
jes’ grew feel that items stolen from their homelands are imprisoned in
museums, and clearly the Atonists feel the same. The Atonist goal is to
imprison these items to keep the oppressed cultures “in check.” By showing the
perspective of the Atonists, Reed introduces the idea of museums as lockups.
The second place his argument
appears is mid-chapter 13 on page 42. “Biff Musclewhite has reduced his status
from Police Commissioner to Consultant to the Metropolitan Police in the
precinct of Yorktown in order to take a job as Curator of the Center of Art
Detention. (More Pay.)” (42). First, Reed refers to the Metropolitan Museum of
Art as the “Center of Art Detention.” Again, Reed implies that the contents of
a museum are shut off unfairly from the world in a museum, and that they
somehow cannot do as much for their culture in such a state. Secondly, he
reinforces the idea of “detention” by having a cop “curate” the museum like a
warden might “curate” a prison. Furthermore, by stating that Musclewhite did it
for “more pay,” Reed connects the whole endeavor of “Art Detention” to profit-driven
motives rather than cultural or artistic ones.
I really agree with your argument, as I also never really thought about museums as detention centers. They always seemed to be "preserving" things.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the Atonists care so much about siphoning art away from oppressed cultures indicates that art is, in fact, important to the cultural development (which seems very postmodern). The Atonists clearly know this due to their emphasis on museums.
When Reed also takes into account the fact that these museums are profit-focused, he is further undermining the Atonists. Maybe the "outbreak" of Jes Grew has renewed the Atonist fixation with art, as they have previously controlled most of these art forms. Jes Grew is a threat to them. Do you think Jes Grew represents the sudden freedom of music from this cultural jail?
The idea that museums are essentially cultural prisons is a bit jarring - I always thought of them as a way of protecting and honoring work too, and I really enjoy going to museums. But this also makes sense as a criticism of white culture - it's a way to demoting art to being only within a permitted space, of taking art out of daily life. It's just another part of the Protestant Work Ethic - everything is scheduled, including art.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a 2 sides of the same coin idea, but it is interesting to have something like museums, something that always seemed as a positive thing, and giving it an unexpected sinister side. The worst part is now that its been pointed out, you'll never forget this interpretation.
DeleteI agree that this is a very different way of thinking of museums compared to what we are used to. I think this is an interesting commentary of the way that these white people view other countries. We can see throughout history varying European countries (But I think Britain in the 19th and early 20th century is a great example), take art from other countries thinking they, being "superior" take cultural art and artifacts to show and almost mock by showing other cultures' art as "exotic." It also can be a type of cultural warfare, similar to Nazi looting of art in WWII, who either took art to dishearten their enemies or to burn in the hopes that avid art enthusiasts would be inclined to buy back art to save it, and thus fund the Nazi war movement.
ReplyDeleteHuh! I hadn't really thought that deeply about museums in Mumbo Jumbo until just now :) Nice post!
ReplyDeleteBoth the revised name of the Met and Biff Musclewhite's previous job as a police commissioner make Reed's point about art and culture imprisonment very obvious. These artifacts of culture are literally in prison because they're "too dangerous" for the outside world. Instead of being expressed within their countries of origin, these art pieces are sterilized and "othered" for exposure to the Atonist-protected world -- which, in a way, mirrors the cleanliness and plastic-ness of the Atonist headquarters.
Personally I love museums because I love dinosaurs but this paints museums in a different light. I think for this book, depicting museums as jails of culture works really well and further advances the theme of Atonists keeping culture in check. I don't know if I would really see modern day museums as places that keep culture caged but sometimes I can agree that some items would be better left alone and not in museums.
ReplyDeleteI really love how Mumbo Jumbo makes us understand the true costs behind the lovely museums we visit here in America and Europe. People dream of going to the Louvre, the MET, and the British Museum all of which have massive exhibits of foreign artifacts that were taken during the colonial era. I love Mumbo Jumbo's story line of repatriating the art/stealing it back for the original countries because we should be doing that today.
ReplyDeleteI think Mumbo Jumbo is brilliant for pointing this out. Especially how Reed includes the scene of the mutafika drinking from a south american goblet showing an example of true appreciation as opposed to the theft and appropriation of museums
ReplyDelete