Representations of HIV/AIDS in Contemporary Hispano-American and Caribbean Culture : Cuerpos SuiSIDAs

The imagination of the early twenty-first century is catastrophic, with Hollywood blockbusters, novels, computer games, popular music, art and even political speeches all depicting a world consumed by vampires, zombies, meteors, aliens from outer space, disease, crazed terrorists and mad scientists. These frequently gothic descriptions of the apocalypse not only commodify fear itself; they articulate and even help produce imperialism. Building on, and often retelling, the British 'imperial gothic' of the late nineteenth century, the American imperial gothic is obsessed with race, gender, degeneration and invasion, with the destruction of society, the collapse of modernity and the disintegration of capitalism. Drawing on a rich array of texts from a long history of the gothic, this book contends that the doom faced by the world in popular culture is related to the current global instability, renegotiation of worldwide power and the American bid for hegemony that goes back to the beginning of the Republic and which have given shape to the first decade of the millennium. From the frontier gothic of Charles Brockden Brown's Edgar Huntly to the apocalyptic torture porn of Eli Roth's Hostel, the American imperial gothic dramatises the desires and anxieties of empire. Revealing the ways in which images of destruction and social upheaval both query the violence with which the US has asserted itself locally and globally, and feed the longing for stable imperial structures, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of popular culture, cultural and media studies, literary and visual studies and sociology Exploring the mechanisms and strategies used in different cultures across Hispano-America and the Caribbean to narrativise, represent and understand HIV/AIDS as a social and human phenomenon, this book examines a wide range of cultural, artistic and media texts, as well as issues of human phenomenology, to understand the ways in which HIV positive individuals make sense of their own lives, and of the ways in which the rest of society sees them. Drawing on a variety of cultural texts from cinema, television, photography and literature, the author considers the manner in which contemporary cultural forms have shaped a body of public opinion in response to the social and cultural impact of HIV/AIDS, re-interpreting the condition in the light of advances in treatment. With attention to both the temporality and spatiality of production, this book examines whether heterosexual and homosexual, and masculine and feminine bodies are narrativised in the same manner, considering the question of whether representations foster discrimination of any kind. The book also asks whether representations across Latin America are homogenous or varied according to national, social or cultural context, and explores the commonalities between the representations of HIV/AIDS in Hispano-America and the Caribbean and other global narratives. A detailed study of the various representations of HIV/AIDS and the construction of public opinion, this book will appeal to scholars of cultural, media and film studies, the sociology of health, the body and illness, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Against The Background Of The So-called 'obesity Epidemic', Media And The Rhetoric Of Body Perfection Critically Examines The Discourses Of Physical Perfection That Pervade Western Societies, Shedding New Light On The Rhetorical Forces Behind Body Anxieties And Extreme Methods Of Weight Loss And Beautification. Drawing On Rich Interview Material With Cosmetic Surgery Patients And Offering Fresh Analyses Of Various Texts From Popular Culture, Including Internationally-screened Reality-television Shows Including The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover And The Swan As Well As Entertainment Programmes And Documentaries, This Book Examines The Ways In Which Western Media Capitalise On Body Anxiety By Presenting Physical Perfection As A Moral Imperative, Whilst Advertising Quick And Effective Transformation Methods To Erase Physical Imperfections.with Attention To Contemporary Lines Of Resistance To Standards Of Thinness And Attempts To Redefine Conceptions Of Beauty, Media And The Rhetoric Of Body Perfection Will Appeal To Scholars And Students Of Popular Culture, Television, Media And Cultural Studies, As Well As The Sociology Of The Body, Feminist Thought, Body Transformation And Cosmetic Surgery. Survival Of The Fittest -- Mass Media And The Perfection Market -- Reality Television Transformation -- Fabricating Fatness In Cinema -- Gaining And Losing In Real-life Transformation -- Resistant Bodies And The Politics Of Perfection. By Deborah Harris-moore. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 175-181) And Index. Against the background of the so-called 'obesity epidemic', Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection critically examines the discourses of physical perfection that pervade Western societies, shedding new light on the rhetorical forces behind body anxieties and extreme methods of weight loss and beautification. Drawing on rich interview material with cosmetic surgery patients and offering fresh analyses of various texts from popular culture, including internationally-screened reality-television shows including The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover and The Swan as well as entertainment programmes and documentaries, this book examines the ways in which Western media capitalise on body anxiety by presenting physical perfection as a moral imperative, whilst advertising quick and effective transformation methods to erase physical imperfections. With attention to contemporary lines of resistance to standards of thinness and attempts to redefine conceptions of beauty, Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection will appeal to scholars and students of popular culture, television, media and cultural studies, as well as the sociology of the body, feminist thought, body transformation and cosmetic surgery. Against the background of the so-called'obesity epidemic', Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection critically examines the discourses of physical perfection that pervade Western societies, shedding new light on the rhetorical forces behind body anxieties and extreme methods of weight loss and beautification. Drawing on rich interview material with cosmetic surgery patients and offering fresh analyses of various texts from popular culture, including internationally-screened reality-television shows including The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover and The Swan as well as entertainment programs and documentaries, this book examines the ways in which Western media capitalize on body anxiety by presenting physical perfection as a moral imperative, while advertising quick and effective transformation methods to erase physical imperfections. With attention to contemporary lines of resistance to standards of thinness and attempts to redefine conceptions of beauty, Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection will appeal to scholars and students of popular culture, television, media and cultural studies, as well as the sociology of the body, feminist thought, body transformation and cosmetic surgery. Disability, Obesity and Ageing offers an engaging account of a new area of pressing concern, analysing the way in which 'spurned' identities are depicted and reacted to in televisual genres and online forums. Examining the symbolic power of the media, this book presents case studies from drama, situation comedies, reality and documentary television programmes popular in the UK, USA and Australia to shed light on the representation of disability, obesity and ageing, and the manner in which their status as unwanted and unwelcome identities is perpetuated. A theoretically sophisticated exploration of television as a translator of identity, and the exploration of identity categories in allied virtual spaces, this book will be of interest to sociologists, as well as scholars of popular culture, and cultural and media studies. About the AUTHORS:: Debbie Rodan is Senior Lecturer of Media and Cultural Studies at Edith Cowan University, Australia. Katie Ellis is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Internet Studies at Curtin University, Australia. Pia Lebeck tutors in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Murdoch University, Australia Cover; Contents; Acknowledgements; Part I Television as a Social Experience; 1 Introduction: Renegotiating Disability, Obesity and Ageing; 2 Tacit Knowledge: Cultural Representations of Disability, Obesity and Ageing; 3 A Marketplace of Ideas: Television as a Social Experience; 4 Audience Activity: Identification, Disidentification and Online Activity; Part II Identifications; 5 Disability Drama; 6 Obesity Makeover: Rejecting the Obese Body; 7 Ageing Transformations: Embracing the 'Young-Old' Body; 8 Conclusion: Beyond the Water-Cooler; References; Index Disability, Obesity and Ageing offers an engaging account of a new area of pressing concern, analysing the way in which 'spurned' identities are depicted and reacted to in televisual genres and on-line forums. Examining the symbolic power of the media, this book presents case studies from reality, drama and comic television programmes popular in the UK, USA and Australia to shed light on the representation of disability, obesity, and ageing the manner in which their status as unwanted and unwelcome identities is perpetuated Introduction : the American imperial gothic Imperial frontier gothic The gothic of benevolent assimilation Cold war horror Post-vietnam gothic 11 September and the gothic war on terror Afghanistan, Iraq and the new frontiers of the imperial gothic Militarising the virtual gothic Tales of torture and invasion The imperial gothic of the post-apocalypse Conclusion.