Berbelang is part of the art-napping Mu’tafikah, whose goal is to rescue non-western art from museums. The Mu’tafika believe that this art is stolen, because it was taken without permission from original cultures across Africa and Asia. Even worse, the art is kept in a sort of prison (museums). Not everyone has access to museums because of the entrance fee and their general seclusion, so the art is hidden from many people. Oftentimes the original purpose of the art was practical, maybe used in a ritual or as a religious symbol, and keeping it hidden in a museum does a disservice to the artifact. So basically, western nations have kidnapped artifacts, kept them in a place that is difficult to access, and are not using them in the way they were meant to be used.
At first I didn’t understand what this had to do with Jes Grew. After all, those artifacts don’t mean much to people in America, they only mean something to the places from which they came. But as we learn later on, the culture in the countries of origin mean a lot to the progress of Jew Grew in America. When Benoit Battraville arrives on the scene, he explains the effects that Antonism was having in Haiti, and how the Antonists tried to stamp out the Work and VooDoo religion in the process. While America is facing a war of culture, Haiti is experiencing real combat. Importantly, PaPa LaBas comes away from this meeting with a different perspective on Jew Grew and the Work, as he now understands how global this problem is.
So back to Berbelang. At the beginning of the book we see him leaving the Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral, as he does not agree with PaPa LaBas’s fascination with Jew Grew. He believes that by returning the “loot” back to their countries of origin he will help “Shango, Shiva, and Quetzalcoatl” rise again (89). After some googling, I discovered that these names belong to deities in Africa. Berbelang believes that the return of artifacts will help those countries re-discover their national and cultural identities, just as the Book would help America and Jes Grew.
He played an important role by demonstrating the complexity of losing culture. Not only was Jes Grew important, the success of Jes Grew was tied to the identities of countries in Africa, like Haiti.
Interesting post! I think Berbelang was an interesting character too, and wish we could have discussed him more in class. I like your analysis of his role in the book as a representation of how culture is lost. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThe return of stolen artifacts is complicated, and it's a problem that doesn't just apply to African culture. Shango is sacred to the Yoruba people in modern-day Nigeria. Shiva is a Hindu diety. Quetzalcoatl is the Aztec god of "the sun and wind, air, and learning" (Wikipedia). All of these cultures had been violently colonized by Europeans. Reed may have intended Jes Grew to refer mostly to Black culture, but the same thinking applies to other oppressed cultures around the world.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I was confused about Berbelang as a character, and your analysis definitely helped clear things up. I think it's cool how Reed ties in Jes Grew with other parts of the world and other timelines as well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wish we'd had a little more time to dig into the Mu'tafikah and Berbelang, and how they fit into the larger Jes Grew context (Reed says they are "compounding the crisis" early in the novel). I think you're nailing the key idea here--that this art that has been "stolen" from its original cultural context represents an effort to kneecap that culture's spiritual or religious life. It's not just that museums are elitist institutions that not everyone has access to, or that the exhibits don't provide enough context for the relics they display--it's a more metaphysical idea that these amulets and sacred objects can literally "reawaken" gods and spirits ("loas" etc.) who have been neutered by these cultural thefts. The metaphor makes a lot of sense, when we consider the British Museum as a virtual "trophy case" from colonialist pillaging of African and Asian cultures. The cultures have indeed been harmed, marginalized, as their art has been "detained" by colonial authorities.
ReplyDeleteThe Mu'Tafikah were definitely one of the less explored and more confusing part of Mumbo Jumbo. I wish Reed has explained how they were connect to Jes Grew in more detail. I like your explanation that bringing the artifact will help these deities rise again. Good post!
ReplyDeleteBerbelang was definitely a mysterious character in Mumbo Jumbo. He would just occasionally show up and then not be mentioned for another 10 chapters. But, I think he chapters with him in it are very interesting because of how he is a driving force behind the Mu'tafikah side plot and it was interesting to see where that would lead.
ReplyDelete