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Department of English and American Studies English Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Michaela Kravalová Parody, Meta-parody and Self-parody in Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo Bachelor ’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph. D. 2009 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Michaela Kravalová 2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................4 2. The Concept of Parody................................................................................................8 2.1 Genette’s Notion of Transtextuality....................................................................8 2.2 Simon Dentith’s Spectrum of Parody................................................................13 2.3 Linda Hutcheon’s Postmodern Parody..............................................................15 2.4 Mikhail Bakhtin’s Double-voiced Discourse....................................................17 2.5 Henry L. Gates’ Notion of Parody in Signifyin(g)............................................19 3. The Function of Parody, Meta-parody and Self-parody........................................21 3.1 The Function of Parody.....................................................................................21 3.2 Meta-parody.......................................................................................................24 3.3 Self-parody........................................................................................................27 4. Parody in Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo ...............................................................29 4.1 Parody as Such in Mumbo Jumbo ......................................................................29 4.2 Meta-parody in Mumbo Jumbo ..........................................................................35 4.3 Self-parody in Mumbo Jumbo ...........................................................................37 5. Conclusion..................................................................................................................40 6. Works Cited...............................................................................................................43 3 1. Introduction This thesis deals with transtextuality, parody, meta-parody and self-parody in the novel Mumbo Jumbo by an African American writer Ishmael Reed. The aim of the thesis is to explain the complex notions of meta-parody and self-parody, based on the theories about parody as such, and show how they can be applied on Reed’s novel. In order to proceed from the general notions to the particular instances of parody, the generalized concepts of transtextuality and parody are introduced first and special notions of parody (meta-parody and self-parody) follow. In the first part, the thesis explains transtextuality and parody, incorporating the theories of Gérard Genette, Simon Dentith, Linda Hutcheon, Mikhail Bakhtin and Henry L. Gates. Later on, arguments about the concepts of meta-parody and self-parody and their possible understandings and functions are outlined. In the second part, the findings about meta-parody and self- parody are applied on the novel Mumbo Jumbo by Reed, which in this way serves as an example of the aforementioned theories. Because the notion of meta-parody is fairly complicated, the thesis is written with a gradual complexity, starting from very clear definitions. At the very beginning, therefore, Genette’s basic terminology of transtextuality as the relationship between the texts is explained in very simple terms. Later on, the definitions are elaborated on and more complicated issues about meta-parody and self-parody are introduced. The African American novel Mumbo Jumbo was chosen as an apt example to demonstrate these theories because it could be called a “textbook” of African American rhetoric tradition, parody being one of the most important parts of this tradition. This tradition consists of a mixture of parody, provocation and allusions in an oral or literary performance. Gates coins the term “Signifyin(g)” for this mixture. Signifyin(g) is an activity of a trickster; it is humorous and provocative rhetoric and parody is 4 undoubtedly a significant part of it as well. Gates claims that “literary Signification [...] is similar to parody and pastiche” (Gates xxvii). This is why the African American novel has been chosen as an apt example for the topic that deals with the general notion of parody and its special instances. The theories about the concepts of meta-parody and self-parody are grounded in the notions of parody developed by scholars such as Gérard Genette, Simon Dentith, Linda Hutcheon, Mikhail Bakhtin and Henry L. Gates. Each of the scholars has a different viewpoint on the concept of parody that supports or contradicts the other scholar’s conception, which is why the theories of parody created by this very group of scholars were chosen. They also lay the groundwork from which the conclusions about meta-parody and self-parody can be derived. Each of these scholar’s concept of parody is useful in a different way; it either serves as a source of terminology or idea, or it supports or contradicts other scholars’ understanding of parody. In particular, Genette’s concept of transtextuality provides the general idea of a relationship between the texts. Genette’s book serves also as a source of terminology used throughout the thesis. Next, Dentith’s idea of “spectrum of parody” (Dentith 6) and his comprehension of the polemic function of parody are useful while drawing conclusions about meta-parody and its function. Furthermore, Hutcheon’s and Gates’ concepts both serve as a reaction: Dentith’s theories are contradicted by Linda Hutcheon’s concept of postmodern parody and Gates’ idea of Signifyin(g) is based on Bakhtin’s concept of a double-voiced discourse structure. These interactions between the scholars’ theories and the function of each of the concept in the whole course of the thesis suggest why the scholars’ viewpoints are ordered exactly in this sequence: Genette’s, Dentith’s, Hutcheon’s, Bakhtin’s and Gates’. 5 Although each of these scholars introduces a slightly different viewpoint on certain aspects of parody, the basic notion of parody as a “mocking imitation in verse or prose of a literary work” (The FreeDictionary), “a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule” (Merriam- Webster Dictionary), “mocking of an epos” (Genette 20, my translation) 1 or “relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice” (Dentith 9) is more or less accepted by each scholar. The definitions of parody by different scholars usually include descriptive tags such as “mocking”, “imitating”, “allusive”, or “polemic”. These attributes are connected to the function of parody which is either understood as polemic (Dentith) or multilateral (Hutcheon). All of the aspects that are comprehended differently by each scholar, the function of parody included, will be discussed later. To introduce the term meta-parody that is used in this thesis, the prefix meta- should be defined. This prefix indicates a new level of parody, which is a next layer that goes beyond the expected extent of parody. Sekules argues that “[i]t is a prefix meaning ‘among, after, behind’ and especially ‘beyond’, [...] it suggests the experience in question may be digested on more than one level” (qtd. in Safire). The prefix meta- is widely used to speak about a concept that exceeds a common scale and creates a new level above the scale. It is a fairly abstract notion of an idea that observes the precursor idea from above, so to speak. For example, meta-linguistic function of a language is speaking about a language by describing it or simply observing it. Analogically, meta- parody should then suggest a parody that describes a parody. However, the term meta- parody is not applied here to a form that describes parody but rather to a form that 1 “die Verspottung des Epos” (Genette 20) 6 parodies parody . Therefore, the prefix meta- in meta-parody is not used to indicate a text about parody but rather a parody of parody. Within the notion of self-parody, on the other hand, it is not the function or the definition that is analyzed but it is rather the recognition of self-parody itself that is dealt with in this thesis. The author’s parody of his own style of writing, for example, might not be easily recognized because the reader might not notice any deviation from the author’s common style of writing. Genette claims that self-parody is actually impossible to recognize (Genette 173). The recognition of self-parody by the reader is dealt with later in the thesis. Thus, all of these conceptions are discussed in the thesis: Genette’s notion of transtextuality and hypertextuality; Dentith’s concept of parody; Hutcheon’s distinction between parody, satire and irony; Gates’ notion of Signifyin(g); and my conclusion about meta-parody and self-parody that is derived from the aforementioned scholars’ theories. The instances of meta-parody and self-parody in Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo are discussed in the second part of the thesis. 7 2. The Concept of Parody 2.1 Genette’s Notion of Transtextuality In order to generalize the attributes of a text and to find the common features that all texts share, Genette introduces new terms
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