Paula A. Treichler has become a singularly important voice among
the significant theorists on the AIDS crisis. Dissecting the
cultural politics surrounding representations of HIV and AIDS, her
work has altered the field of cultural studies by establishing
medicine as a legitimate focus for cultural analysis. "How to Have
Theory in an Epidemic" is a comprehensive collection of Treichler's
related writings, including revised and updated essays from the
1980s and 1990s that present a sustained argument about the AIDS
epidemic from a uniquely knowledgeable and interdisciplinary
standpoint.
"AIDS is more than an epidemic disease," Treichler writes, "it is
an epidemic of meanings." Exploring how such meanings originate,
proliferate, and take hold, her essays investigate how certain
interpretations of the epidemic dominate while others are obscured.
They also suggest ways to understand and choose between overlapping
or competing discourses. In her coverage of roughly fifteen years
of the AIDS epidemic, Treichler addresses a range of key issues,
from biomedical discourse and theories of pathogenesis to the
mainstream media's depictions of the crisis in both developed and
developing countries. She also examines representations of women
and AIDS, treatment issues, and the role of activism in shaping the
politics of the epidemic. Linking the AIDS tragedy to a uniquely
broad spectrum of contemporary theory and culture, this collection
concludes with an essay on the continued importance of theoretical
thought for untangling the sociocultural phenomena of AIDS--and for
tackling the disease itself.
With an exhaustive bibliography of critical and theoretical
writings on HIV and AIDS, this long-awaited volume will be
essential to all those invested in studying the course of AIDS, its
devastating medical effects, and its massive impact on contemporary
culture. It should become a standard text in university courses
dealing with AIDS in biomedicine, sociology, anthropology, gay and
lesbian studies, women's studies, and cultural and media studies.
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