Mean is a memoir by Myriam Gurba, it covers the experiences of the author growing up as a queer, mixed-race Chicana in a middle-class American environment. Gurba’s writing style is casual, though the subject and events of the book are serious in nature. Humor is a staple in this book, this humor is extremely telling regarding Burga’s attitude towards her experiences. The writer employs humor as a tool to break up the depressing subject of the book, and to distract the reader from Burga’s pain; or in some cases to mask certain details in her experiences.
Burga does not make a significant effort to tell humorous stories, the stories she tells leave natural places to insert a joke into the writing. The types of jokes in this book are tasteful for their respective situations, they do not overshadow the deeper implications and themes of the book but create a more accessible pathway for the reader to interpret what Burga is communicating. The joke is not the point; it is a tool to distract from negativity or mask details. Though humor can be used in this manner, it can also come across as callous, or making light of a situation that should be taken seriously. It is only due to the expert execution of this writing element by the author that she can tell her story in such a manner. “I breathed their asbestos; they flaked their cancer onto me. Besides the ceiling tiles, I was kept up by coffee, coffee became my closest friend that semester, coffee gave me everything I needed, coffee made my heartbeat faster and turned me into a speed reader, coffee turned me into a sweaty introvert (aesthetic boners).” Here, Burga is describing the decrepit, run-down, and dreary atmosphere of her first college dorm. She states that cancer is being flaked onto her, keeping her up at night. This is clearly not a pleasant experience she is telling of, yet she jokes about coffee in the next line. She says that coffee was her “best friend” and that it turned her into a “sweaty introvert.” These are intentionally humorous deliveries of these lines. The humor of this line immediately allows the reader to move on from the negative tone that is set by her dorm description. This could be taken as a hand-wave, or lessening of the previous subject manner, however, Burga writes so the extremely relatable coffee addiction joke becomes a natural transition into the next topic she would like to cover in her memoir. She tastefully integrates hyperbole about her feelings on coffee and the physiological effects it has on her in her description. This clever interweaving of humor into her writing allows Burga to tell her story in this way, providing a more engaging read as the humor is funny. By making the read more engaging the author encourages the reader to think more critically about what the real message is of her experiences. Not only does humor chop up the negativity of the text, but it also distracts the reader from the real pain that the author experiences over these memories, as well as an out for Burga to avoid discussing certain things she would rather leave untold. “If molestation is a circle, a circle of life, then isn’t the hand of every molester working through the hand of every other molester? It’s fair to say that Mr. Osman’s hand was working through Makali’s hand just like the Eucharist is no longer bread during mass it’s Jesus coming at you through a cracker (Bonnie).” Here, Burga is reflecting on Mr. Osman, the little league baseball coach of her junior high, who had been found guilty of molesting countless boys. One of Mr. Osman’s victims molested Burga during class, back in junior high, which caused her to reflect on how abuse is a cycle. This is an important idea regarding the nature of abuse and abusers, she says that the hand of one molester works through the hands of all other molesters. The author then interjects this by stating that it is like how the eucharist is “Jesus coming at you through a cracker”. Comparing the cycle of abuse where one molester’s hand “acts” through another to a cracker being Jesus is a very lighthearted approach. This lightheartedness deflects the reader from the pain that is likely being felt by Burga here while discussing such a grim matter. Burga’s humor creates a more engaging read for the reader while being a useful authorial tool for her to communicate her message.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Do you think Burga’s use of humor to lighten the situation enhances her points, or is it detrimental?
What other aspects of Burga’s writing collaborate with her humor to enhance her message and light-hearted attitude?
CITATION:
Gurba, Myriam. “Pgs. 37-100.” Mean, Coffee House Press, La Vergne, 2017.
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Hi Alex, I thought that your post was very good. I like how you asked the question about Gurbas humor being enhanced or detrimental to the book. Personally I think it varies depending on said person. Everyone is different so people might interpret the humor in different ways. Personally I think that the humor Gurba uses enhances the book for me. I find myself using humor in certain situations to sort of alleviate the pain or sadness in situations. “None of these things matter, though. Not ghosts, Allen Ginsburg, or queer pigeons. What matters is a woman making art out of everything she was born with (Gurba 83). I think this is what explains Gurba and the way she is and how she writes perfectly. I don’t think she is mean for no reason, I think that she is mean because of all the hardships she had gone on in her life and she realized that the world isn’t a nice place so she might as well be mean so that it doesn’t affect her as much.
Good job with this comment, Logan! I’d love to hear more of your thoughts about that quote. Does it exemplify a particular aspect of Gurba’s humor? Or her “meanness”? Don’t forget also to introduce your quotes:
Gurba writes, “None of these things matter, though. Not ghosts, Allen Ginsburg, or queer pigeons. What matters is a woman making art out of everything she was born with” (83).
Score: 3/5
Hi Alex, I greatly enjoyed your in-depth analysis of Gurba’s use of humor as an engaging tactic to bring an enjoyable and conversational essence to her memoir. In her ongoing rants, she analyses concepts and themes in an adolescent manner where professional essays are discarded and humor, cultural references, and vulgar language take their place. Along with her use of humor, Gurba also personifies things as women throughout this section of the book such as California and even Death. Although we do not consider these things as people, it reverts to a conversational manner in which one might describe their car or a boat as “she” although it truly holds no gender. After Gurba describes her hate for the concept of death as she saw her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s battle, she brings the idea that “Death does have a gender. She likes to flirt,” personifying it all together (Gurba 71). Here she asserts that she is a woman and can flirt with all and although this is not true, it contradictorily livens the reading and the concept. Personifying a concept like this becomes an easier way to blame death here for pain and to explain that her flirting is a taste of something that we all see and will experience. This personification enhances the theme of this specific chapter rather than having the reader focus on her excursion to a lighthouse she previously discusses. Similarly, personification allows for an emphasis on death as we are more likely to relate to and empathize if things hold human attributes. Altogether, it turns the concept of death from something dark into something lighthearted to enhance the theme of this specific chapter.
Great analysis of Gurba’s personification, Jennifer! I hadn’t thought about that aspect of her writing style until you pointed it out, but you’re absolutely right–it’s everywhere!
Score: 5/5
Hello Alex! I thought your blog post was insightful and thought-provoking, especially your title. It was not only eye-catching but thought-provoking. “Funny Taruma ?” the question mark imposes a question on the reader, even before they have the chance to get to read your post. Going in with my preconceptions around “funny, trauma” not only validates some of my thoughts but provokes others as well, helping me further understand Gurbas’ work. For example, your explanation of Guba’s humor helped me better understand certain aspects of the book. A quote not yet mentioned by Gurba where she makes “light of a situation that should be taken seriously”. Is the irony within the first few paragraphs of the character titled Señorita, “Don’t get AIDS in my dinner!” He was joking, of course. Mom didn’t have AIDS. My gay cousin did” (Gurba 38). The irony in this sentence makes the sentence humorous. Because, yes mom couldn’t have AIDS it would be impossible, but it would be very much possible that her gay cousin did. The irony of this made me laugh, even though AIDS is a very serious topic and is something that is not humorous. This goes back to your thesis, “The joke is not the point; it is a tool to distract from negativity or mask details. Though humor can be used in this manner, it can also come across as callous, or making light of a situation that should be taken seriously.” Gurba, clearly illustrates this throughout the entirety of her work, making it easy to depict for her reader while also giving something for them to laugh at which they maybe wouldn’t have.
Good job with this comment, Grace, just make sure to proofread! There are some typos (taruma instead of trauma, yes mom, and a period between “seriously” and “is” that makes the sentences on either end into fragments).
Score: 4/5
Hello Alex! I thought your blog post was insightful and thought-provoking, especially your title. It was not only eye-catching but thought-provoking. “Funny Trauma?” the question mark imposes a question on the reader, even before they have the chance to get to read your post. Going in with my preconceptions around “funny, trauma” not only validates some of my thoughts but provokes others as well, helping me further understand Gurbas’ work. For example, your explanation of Guba’s humor helped me better understand certain aspects of the book. A quote not yet mentioned by Gurba where she makes “light of a situation that should be taken seriously.”. Is the irony within the first few paragraphs of the character titled Señorita, “Don’t get AIDS in my dinner!” He was joking, of course. Mom didn’t have AIDS. My gay cousin did” (Gurba 38). The irony in this sentence makes the sentence humorous. Because, yes mom couldn’t have AIDS it would be impossible, but it would be very much possible that her gay cousin did. The irony of this made me laugh, even though AIDS is a very serious topic and is something that is not humorous. This goes back to your thesis, “The joke is not the point; it is a tool to distract from negativity or mask details. Though humor can be used in this manner, it can also come across as callous, or making light of a situation that should be taken seriously.” Gurba, clearly illustrates this throughout the entirety of her work, making it easy to depict for her reader while also giving something for them to laugh at which they maybe wouldn’t have.
Good job with this comment, Grace, just make sure to proofread! There are some typos (taruma instead of trauma, yes mom, and a period between “seriously” and “is” that makes the sentences on either end into fragments).Score: ⅘
Hi Alex, I really enjoyed your post and how you approached the “humor’ involved in MEAN, by Myriam Gurba. The use of humor throughout the book allows for the audience to work through all the trauma and upsetting scenes even when humor may not be appropriate. The use of humor shows that Burga is human and approaches trauma differently than others. It is not uncommon for people to use humor to cope with trauma as it is just another way people get through hard experiences. Burga’s use of humor to lighten the situation may not enhance her points but it does allow the audience to take in the situation with a lighter tone. An example that could cause people trauma, but Burga makes light of it is stated by Myriam Gurba “Dad has gotten so pissed at Mom, my sister, and me that he has called us bitches. When he calls us this word, I want to say, “Dad we’re just making your life more interesting. Remember?”” (Gurba 18). Although it may not help enhance her points, it is not detrimental as it is simply how she expresses her situation.
Good job with this comment, Chris, just make sure to proofread! The author’s last name is Gurba, not Burga. You can also incorporate quotes into your writing more seamlessly if you try this format:
For example, Gurba writes, “Dad has gotten so pissed at Mom, my sister, and me that he has called us bitches. When he calls us this word, I want to say, “Dad we’re just making your life more interesting. Remember?”” (18).
Score: 4/5
Hi Alex, I really enjoyed your post and how you approached the “humor’ involved in MEAN, by Myriam Gurba. The use of humor throughout the book allows for the audience to work through all the trauma and upsetting scenes even when humor may not be appropriate. The use of humor shows that Gurba is human and approaches trauma differently than others. It is not uncommon for people to use humor to cope with trauma as it is just another way people get through hard experiences. Gurba’s use of humor to lighten the situation may not enhance her points but it does allow the audience to take in the situation with a lighter tone. Gurba states, “Dad has gotten so pissed at Mom, my sister, and me that he has called us bitches. When he calls us this word, I want to say, “Dad we’re just making your life more interesting. Remember?”” (18). Although it may not help enhance her points, it is not detrimental as it is simply how she expresses her situation.
Hey Alex, I love your analysis of the humor throughout this text. I agree that she adds the humor for the readers advantage and to break up the negative emotions she puts out but i also think its a mechanism to cope with her own emotions. the topics she discusses are very brutal, detailed, and emotionally triggering events. These events can be very hard for an individual to relive and tell complete strangers. In this case she adds humor for satire and to lessen the blow of the events she encountered. As she tells her story I can imagine there are moments that are hard to accept let alone write out. Writing something out can physically take that action from a mere thought to a permanent thing that can’t be undone so adding a joke or too can really help the mental health of the writer herself. “Did you know PTSD is the only mental illness you can give someone? A person gave it to me. A man actually drove me crazy. He transmitted this condition. Like the man who gave my gay cousin HIV, or like my grandfather, who gave my grandmother the clap. You can “get” schizophrenia or bipolar in the genetic sense. You might inherit genes that predispose you toward hearing voices or intense fluctuation of mood. In that sense, these conditions are “given” to you. But they aren’t given to you in the same way watching your father cut off your mother’s head on Christmas gives you PTSD (Gurba 52). This quote really stuck out to me because this event is clearly very traumatizing and she speaks of it so carelessly and jokingly. This event clearly stuck with her and effected her mental health but she adds humor to lessen the blow of it to the readers and herself.
Good job with this comment, Brianna! Just make sure to proofread (there are some capitalization errors), and that all quotes are introduced:
Gurba writes, “Did you know PTSD is the only mental illness you can give someone?…” (52).
Score: 3.5/5
Hey Alex, I thought your analysis of Gurba’s humor was great. I feel that Gurba absolutely stresses humor as a way to cope with her trauma but also shed different perspectives on her story. I feel that Gurba’s humor helps stress her points but I do also believe it is detrimental. Gurba seems to make all of her stories and situations into jokes, whether that be to deescalate a situation or make the reader feel uncomfortable with the use of humor. An example of this being “The shower heads in our locker room were pointless. They had as much use as the showerhead in Oswiecim. That’s polish for Auschwitz” (Gurba 40). Gurba decides to describe her school showers as useless, just like the ones in Auschwitz. Initially reading this, I was very caught off guard for an author to compare her school showers to those of Auschwitz which were responsible for the death of millions of people. This shows the extent to which Gurba is willing to go with her humor and that she does not seem to have a limit. Embracing the juxtaposition between these two drastically different events. I feel this quote also shows the reader that Gurba does not have a limit in her comedy either, she made this apparent in previous chapters but I feel a joke this extreme exemplifies that. While I do feel she did this for shock factor and dark humor, it may turn a lot of people off from her book which can be very detrimental to the message she is sending.
Great job with this comment, Aidan! You’ve identified one of the most severe jokes, which, as you point out, might make the reader uncomfortable.
You mention that her humor might be “detrimental to the message she is sending,” but I wonder what you think that message is? Could the humor itself be part of the “message”?
Score: 5/5
Hey Alex, I thought you did a fine job in showing the humor that Gurba includes and giving examples of jokes she says during the trama in “MEAN”. I believe that humor is Gurba’s scapegoat to all that has happened in her life, It’s hard for many people to express and talk about this topic but I believe it distracts her a bit from the past. An example that explains this well is, “Glancing at him from behind the living room’s white laced curtains, I knew I would be the perfect thing for him to kill. That’s what men who looked like him did in the olden days in California: they kill Mexicans. They lynched us. Made us into strange fruit. Mangos, maybe.” (Gurba 63). As shown, this disturbing topic about how racist kill and abuse Mexicans she still decides to throw in a little joke at the end saying they “Made us into strange fruit. Mangos, maybe.” which deflects my brain from the previous sentence and gives me the reader some humor. Personally I enjoy the dark humor but some others may get thrown off because she’s steering away from the point and it could turn a lot of people away from reading this book which could be detrimental.
Fascinating analysis of this quote, Pat! Just make sure to proofread: there are some errors with spelling and capitalization, as well as typos.
Score: 4/5
Hey Alex, I really liked your blog, and it helped me better understand how Gurba uses humor in the book Mean. As someone who has experienced a large amount of trauma and was degraded as a person, she still decided to put jokes and implemented a form of humor in her memoir. A quote that fits this is when Gurba and friends got money from a homeless man and said “We might buy food with it, or we might get high. It depends.” (Gurba 47) and to build off that scene when she is told to “Blow the man” she says she is queer in a humorous way “I’m homo. Homo Shlomo” (Gurba 48). Even though Gurba is queer she is able to joke about it and come up with names like Homo Shlomo to call herself. I do believe Gurba’s use of humor enhances the mood of the book because it does have very serious events that happen and for her to perfectly find ways to put in a joke makes the books that much better to read.
Excellent job with this comment, Paul!
Score: 5/5
Hi Alex, I really enjoyed reading your blog post and thought you had some really insightful ideas on Gurba’s usage of humor when discussing darker, non-lighthearted topics. To answer your first question, I believe the usage of humor does enhance the different points she is trying to make but it also can distract us from the trauma being represented. Gurba writes, “The station wagon sped toward her. As we neared, her eyes grew to the size of hardboiled eggs. I could tell she played volleyball from how she leapt out of the parking lot” (Gurba 75). The use of dark humor puts emphasis on what is being discussed because it makes us look back and think “did I read that right” because it can sometimes be so bizarre how people can discuss such dark topics in such a lighthearted way. This allows us to really analyze what is being discussed thus allowing us to gain a better understanding on the topic. The usage of humor however can sometimes distract us from the trauma being mentioned. Many people cope with trauma by using dark humor to distract them from horrific experiences. By reading a traumatic event being told in a humorous way the meaning of said event and its impact can sometimes be lost.
Good job with this comment, Dayna! I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on that quote (comparing the girl’s eyes to eggs, Gurba’s assumption that she played volleyball, etc.).
Score: 4.5/5
Hi Alex, I was very intrigued by your blog post. I think that especially when it comes to trauma people experience as well as deal with it in different ways. Sometimes the only way to lighten hard subjects is by adding humor as it can ease the feelings that arise when talking/describing them and replaying hard events through one’s head. I think we see this a lot in mean as she incorporates humor throughout many sensitive, hard to read topics like sexual assault. As much as the humor could be used to lighten the experience of the read for the audience but I really think in a way it could be what gets her through writing such difficult personal memoirs. Once Macaulay began stirring, my tapioca warmed and bubbled. I didn’t want it to be warm. I didn’t want it to be cooking in public, and class is public, very public, and I had a feeling if one of my classmates noticed what was happening to me under the table, they’d call me a ho (Gurba 26)”. This quote shows how Gurba described traumatic events like sexual assault in a way that makes the topic seem a lot lighter. The silly word comparisons she uses to describe it incorporated a sense of humor in her trauma she describes.
Good job with this comment, Ally, just make sure all quotes are introduced:
Gurba writes, “Once Macaulay began stirring, my tapioca warmed and bubbled. I didn’t want it to be warm. I didn’t want it to be cooking in public, and class is public, very public, and I had a feeling if one of my classmates noticed what was happening to me under the table, they’d call me a ho” (26).
Score: 4/5
Hi Alex, this is a great blog post explaining Gurba’s dark humor and how she uses it to cope with the events she’s experienced. The delivery of many of her lines throughout these chapters indicates that she uses humor alongside talking about negative and/or serious topics. I think the way she talks about food is another way she uses humor that helps deflect from the grave stories she tells us. She often uses food to make bold descriptions and comparisons, oftentimes for traumatic events or for describing her desires. The text states, “Good girls prove their virtue by getting rid of themselves. Saint Catherine did this by eating only herbs and eucharist. Mystic pizza.” (Gurba 52.) In this example, she uses a religious example to talk about her sister’s anorexia, calling Saint Catherine’s lackluster meals a ‘mystic pizza’ which brings a lighthearted tone to what would otherwise be a grim circumstance. It’s almost like she tries to preserve her own hope regarding the situations at hand, and she pulls the reader into this by incorporating comedy as well as making distinct tie-ins to food in a positive manner throughout her work.
Hi Alex,
I really enjoyed your blog post. I enjoyed how you looked at Gurbas humor that she uses in the book. I believe that people accept and deal with trauma differently. I think Gurba uses humor to alleviate some of the pain she is feeling from the trauma. Gurba states, “San Fransisco Sunshine is a bisexual woman moving through the fog.”(83) This quote shows how Gurba uses humor such as saying the sunshine is a bisexual woman. This shows in a small way the humor Gurba uses. She gave the sunshine a gender that personifies it.
Hey Alex I like how you addressed the intentional use of humor within Gurba’s stories. To answer your question I both do and don’t think that humor enhances what Gurba is trying to convey through her stories. At the same time that Gurba intentionally use of humor hinders the importance of the topic we are discussing, I feel as though Gurba needs to tell the story the way they are told so that she can fully process the events in her own twisted way. For instance when Gurba says “On our way home dad and I share a big jar of tense silence”(123). By putting this we can imagine the seriousness in the vehicle but can also playfully imagine the mason jar of filled awkwardness. Both hindering the affects of Gurba trauma and adding to her experience. So in conclusion I feel very strongly in both directions.