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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 & AIDS, her work has altered the field of cultural studies by establishing medicine as a legitimate focus for cultural ...

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 & 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 & updated essays from the 1980s & 1990s that present a sustained argument about the AIDS epidemic from a uniquely knowledgeable & interdisciplinary standpoint. "AIDS is more than an epidemic disease," Treichler writes. "It is an epidemic of meanings." Exploring how such meanings originate, proliferate, & take hold, her essays investigate how certain interpretations of the epidemic dominate while others are obscured. They also suggest ways to understand & 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 & theories of pathogenesis to the mainstream media's depictions of the crisis in both developed & developing countries. She also examines representations of women & AIDS, treatment issues, & the role of activism in shaping the politics of the epidemic. Linking the AIDS tragedy to a broad spectrum of contemporary theory & culture, this collection concludes with an essay on the continued importance of theoretical thought for untangling the sociocultural phenomena of AIDS-& for tackling the disease itself. With an exhaustive bibliography of critical & theoretical writings on HIV & AIDS, this long-awaited volume will be essential to all those invested in studying the course of AIDS, its devastating medical effects, & its massive impact on contemporary culture. It should become a standard text in university courses dealing with AIDS in biomedicine, sociology, anthropology, gay & lesbian studies, women's studies, & cultural & media studies.