Brutal Honesty? The Uses of Gore in Tribal-Warrior and Gangbanger Autobiography.

GANG members' writings; RUIZ, Mona; YANOMAMO (South American people); SNOOP Dogg, 1972-; GANG members; AUTOBIOGRAPHY; WARRIORS; VIOLENCE in literature

Gangbanger autobiography brims with gore: bones broken, flesh cut, blood flowing. This can best be understood in cross-cultural terms. Gangbanger and warrior-tribe autobiographers have identical reasons for dwelling upon gore. Such passages help to establish and maintain status by convincing hearers of the bravery of those who face such terrors. Warriors and gangbangers describe gore in considerable detail and with detached objectivity; warriors and gangbangers alike, audiences understand, are thoroughly inured to pain—both suffered and inflicted. The gore also works to establish warrior claims to authenticity and special knowledge. Precisely because accounts of gore are important to warrior status, there is a powerful incentive to exaggerate. Like warrior tribes, street gangs have evolved means—not always effective—of authenticating such claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]