ABSTRACT
In black discourse 'signifying' means modes of figuration itself. Scholars have for some time commented upon the peculiar use of the word 'signifying' in black discourse. Mumbo jumbo is the received and ethnocentric Western designation for the rituals of black religions as well as for all black languages themselves. Mumbo Jumbo signifies upon Western etymology, abusive Western practices of deflation through misnaming, and Johnson's specious, albeit persistent, designation of black creativity as anonymous. Ishmael Reed's parodic use of intertextuality demonstrates that Mumbo Jumbo is a post-modern text. The text of Mumbo Jumbo is framed by devices characteristic of film narration. The Black Arts Movement's grand gesture was to make of the trope of blackness a trope of presence. In literature, blackness is produced in the text only through a complex process of signification. Mumbo Jumbo stands as a profound critique and elaboration upon the convention of closure, and its metaphysical implications, in the black novel.
