Loa Never Die
Loa are critical to the story of Mumbo Jumbo. In the Kathedral, Papa LaBas makes offerings to and attempts to exercise loa with regularity, and it is from the loa Agwe that LaBas derives his knowledge of a world history free from Atonist manipulation. With this in mind, I decided to do a bit more research into the loa, and found that doing so enhanced my understanding of Mumbo Jumbo significantly.
Simply put, loa are spirits within Louisiana and Haitian voodoo. They’re basically in between the supreme deity, Bondye, and humanity; they are served, not prayed to. When called upon, always by a houngan (priest)(like LaBas), they’re said to ride their possessed like horses.
Loa are, however, not just vague figures in the novel; in fact, Papa LaBas himself can be interpreted as a loa. More specifically, there are a number of similarities between Papa LaBas and Papa Legba, a major loa known for representing the crossroad between loa and humanity, the least of which is their name. Reading Papa LaBas as literally being Papa Legba, an idea we briefly discussed during today’s panel presentation, makes a lot of sense. LaBas, who “carries Jes Grew in him like most people carry genes,” makes a fitting new version of Legba. Critically, Legba is known for his role as a communicator; he is typically said to be omnilingual and able to unite varying groups. LaBas, for his part, counters the Atonist narrative of history and contends that an objective history is impossible; however, because subjectivity is threatening to the Wallflower Order, this premises is rejected out of hand. Additionally, both Papa LaBas and the novel as a whole are constantly shifting between different linguistic forms, from African-American Vernacular English to standard academic English to handwritten letters to pictures. These changes are representative of a strong grasp over language, similar to that possessed by Legba, and a disprivileging of any one form of communication over another.
Further, the concept of LaBas as Legba reinforces the notion of the continuous reincarnation of African culture, despite Atonist attempts to squash it. In this sense, loa can be seen as similar to Jes Grew; African culture will continue to manifest and grow. Just as Jes Grew has appeared throughout history in a plethora of forms depending on the needs of the day, Papa LaBas is the modern-day version of an ages-old figure of Papa Legba, presenting a form most suitable for the present and communicating the true history of the world (or, at a minimum, a different and perhaps more accurate version than that pushed forward by Atonism).
This was a super informative blog post, thank you!!! However, I'm still struggling with what the loa that controlled Earline really fits into the story and how it was able to do whatever it did. Like it just doesn't make sense to me.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this (really good!) post, the line "they’re said to ride their possessed like horses" stuck out to me. If we continued with this horse-riding idea and Papa Labas being a loa, would he himself be manipulating Jes Grew, just as an equestrian manipulates his/her horse? It seems as if he is single handedly the leading force of the Jes Grew movement with this metaphor.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super interesting post and idea and would fit with Reed's style of very slightly changing the names of actual figures in his book. The mixture of linguistic forms and styles support the idea that LaBas is a loa. It could also explain his longevity. This leaves me with a question about Earline's possession though. If LaBas was a loa, why was he unable to help?
ReplyDeleteWoah. Thanks for doing that research. The loas were a part of Mumbo Jumbo which I had a very limited understanding of but had not thought of/gotten around to researching more. The analogy of Papa LaBas to Papa Legba seems sound. If we pursue this analogy further, what do you make of Black Herman's seemingly more adept handling of Erzulie when she possesses Earline? Does this challenge the idea of Papa LaBas being a representation of a loa, if he himself is outshone in loa negotioating? I don't know. Ooops just saw Raine's comment above. To complicate the question, what does this say about Black Herman? Is he analogous to some newer loa/newer generation?
ReplyDeleteWow, great post! I really like the idea of loas being a form of jes grew. It does seem to make sense that if certain cultural values and practices - like singing and dancing - carried over the Atlantic, loas would too. LaBas can definitely be seen showing characteristics of a "communicator" since he deals with so many types of people, and connects them all throughout the novel. From Abdul to the Mu'tafika, to visitors of the Kathedral, to the loa itself, it seems like he can really communicate with many different people.
ReplyDeleteI had not previously considered the idea that Papa LaBas was a loa himself, acting as a connection between humans and the loa realm. This makes a lot of sense though because of his work at the Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral. I think that seeing LaBas in this way adds an interesting layer to him being the protagonist/detective in the novel. It makes sense in some ways that the loas want Jes Grew to survive and the Atonists to be shut down.
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