Afrofuturism in Mumbo Jumbo
Though I enjoyed reading Mumbo Jumbo, I think every member of our class can agree that the narrative was confusing at times. The inclusion of graphs, spontaneous lists of words, and lack of upfront exposition threw me for a bit of a loop when I first began reading it, and though I eventually got more used to the style of the book, it still was unlike any other novel I’ve ever read. However, the element of Mumbo Jumbo that was the most bewildering for me was its usage of time. The plot of Mumbo Jumbo doesn’t exactly progress linearly, instead, it swings back and forth between the main storyline of Jes Grew in the 1920s and other points in history, such as the 1970s, though the time spent in these different time periods is usually brief, and provides context or some connection to the 1920s story. The 52 chapters are the culmination of these time period switches, where Papa Le Bas spends two chapters recounting the history of Jes Grew and the Atonists, starting with Ancient Egyptian ...