Atonists can't dance, and maybe E.L. Doctorow can't either

  Both Mumbo Jumbo and Ragtime depict the experience of African Americans in the early 20th century. Mumbo Jumbo centers around the way white people understand and interact with African culture. Ragtime focuses more on the general climate of the early 20th century, but the plot centers around race relations and a black man struggling with the oppression he faces. An important detail to note: E.L. Doctorow is white, and Ishmael Reed is black. Is Ragtime a manifestation of the exact relationship Reed aims to expose?

While Ragtime does an exquisite job of creating a nuanced character in Coalhouse Walker, he and his followers do feed into common stereotypes of black people, especially if you consider the time in which E.L Doctorow wrote the piece. Mumbo Jumbo highlights the way that African Americans and especially their culture gets written off in various ways: people tend to denounce that which they don’t understand. E.L. Doctorow is attempting to write a story centered around an experience he doesn’t have. This, in and of itself, begs the same questions which linger in Mumbo Jumbo: to what extent can white people interact with African culture before its steps into appropriation?

E.L. Doctorow uses the era of Ragtime to breathe life into his novel. The same era which is highlighted in Mumbo Jumbo as a brief and “unsuccessful” manifestation of Jes Grew. Doctorow and Reed both focus on culture eras, but their view on them differs drastically. In both works culture affects the masses, but in Mumbo Jumbo it feels more soulful and authentic. Ragtime uses Ragtime as more of a tool of description and almost a means to an end. Mumbo Jumbo uses jes grew to paint a vivid and unflinching picture of culture and humanity. We see Ragtime more so through Mother’s Younger brother and his interaction with black culture, instead of truly getting a sense of the music’s origins and heart. We never fail to feel the effects and nature of Jes Grew through each form it takes in the novel and beyond.

Is Mother’s Younger Brother a talking android? Doctorow, while never failing to highlight the irony, awards more respect to Mother’s Younger Brother in his near minstrel show performance. Reed does not give almost any respect to the talking android or more importantly Hinkle Von Vampton. Mother’s Younger Brother is a much more realistic example of a talking android: he may truly believe in the cause, but he has no real life experience to back it up and his participation inherently undermines the message and motivations behind Coalhouse. Doctorow, at least in my interpretation, wants us to see that in some way Mother’s Younger Brother found his purpose in this performance. Reed would almost surely see this situation in a much more critical way. The talking android and Hinkle Von Vampton illustrate the more sinister nature of cultural appropriation which is lacking from Mother’s Younger Brother. The talking android is unable to assimilate in any genuine way to the culture of the Harlem renaissance, because the real art is personal and he is disingenuous. Mother’s Younger Brother gives us a window into Coalhouse which Doctorow better understands.

It is astounding how different such a similar archetype of character could be depicted. Coalhouse Walker is resilient and passionate (and a musician) just like Papa LaBas, his team, and more importantly the musicians and poets who, overcome with Jes Grew, formed the revolution known as the Harlem renaissance. Why is it that the way Coalhouse interacts with his art, and ultimately his method of protest against oppression, is so different from similar depictions in Mumbo Jumbo? E.L. Doctorow tells his story from the view of a middle-class white family. This could be viewed as an intentional decision to illustrate the disparities between races in the era, and maybe it is, but Doctorow simply is unable to capture the same spirit Reed does. Coalhouse Walker is angry and violent, and Jes Grew is life itself. Is that simply because Doctorow wanted to tell a story dripping in revenge and rebellion, or does it show his underlying bias in his interpretation of black people?

This whole comparison forces us to question whether or not we think it is appropriate for white artists to tell black stories. Of course it would be wrong for white artists to entirely omit cultures which they don’t understand or partake in, but, as illustrated in Mumbo Jumbo, it is often the addition of white voices into a black conversation which dilutes the vital message. I’m not saying that E.L. Doctorow is a talking android by any means; however, I think it is important to inspect how race and lived experience play into an author’s choices.

“Write what you know”. It is impossible to write a novel without infusing one’s own beliefs and life into it. Doctorow may tell the story of a black man which is compelling on the surface  but upon further inspection is ultimately Euro-centric. In many ways Ragtime is the antithesis of Mumbo Jumbo. They both aim to retell history, and highlight its shortcomings. But Ragtime fails to truly give a voice to the minority which it revolves around, and Mumbo Jumbo not only shows an Afro-centric interpretation of history, but inspires culture beyond the confines of just one group or culture. Maybe this is just what Ishmael Reed meant when he wrote that Atonists could not dance.