Once Upon A Virus

Contemporary, or "urban," legends express culturally complex attitudes toward health and illness. Notions of who gets AIDS, how and why, indicate broad issues involving health beliefs, needs, care, and policy.

Diane E. Goldstein is associate professor of folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland and is cross-appointed to Memorial University's School of Medicine.

Acknowledgments

ix

Introduction Philosophizing in a War Zone

xiii

``Tag, You've Got AIDS''

HIV in Folklore and Legend

1

(23)

AIDS Folklore and Disease in Popular Discourse

AIDS Folklore in Newfoundland

The People and the Place

Resources and Their Management

Trust and Community

Medical Care and Public Health in Newfoundland

AIDS in Newfoundland

Bad People and Body Fluids

Contemporary Legend and AIDS Discourse

24

(31)

Enacting Legends, Ostension, and Health Behaviors

Legend and Vernacular Concerns about Health

Situated Legends and Emergent Meaning

Tainted Food and Contaminated Spaces

The Deliberate Infecting ``Other''

The Number and Names Game

Conspiracy Theory

Making Sense

Narrative and the Development of Culturally Appropriate Health Education

55

(22)

Fact vs. Behavior

Risk Perception

Health Belief, Vernacular Theory, and Behavior Change Illness and Narrativity

What Exactly Did They Do with That Monkey, Anyway?

Contemporary Legend, Scientific Speculation, and the Politics of Blame in the Search for AIDS Origins

77

(23)

Theories of AIDS Origins

Animal Theories

Isolated-Case Theories

Laboratory-Virus Theory

Welcome to the Innocent World of AIDS

Cultural Viability, Localization, and Contemporary Legend

100

(16)

``Billy Ray Virus''

The Folk Creation and Official Maintenance of a Public Health Scapegoat

116

(23)

The Events

Legend and the Law

AIDS in Conception Bay North

The Trial

The Ray Corpus

Public Health and the Stigmatized Community

Conclusion

Epilogue

``Banishing All the Spindles from the Kingdom''

Reading Needle-Prick Narratives as Resistance

139

(18)

Contemporary Pinprick Narratives

Precursors

Legend as Cultural Critique and Agency

Once Upon a Virus

Public Health and Narrative as a Proactive Form

157

(22)

The ``Know Your Partner'' Message

Lay Risk Assessment and the Problem of Perceived Susceptibility

Mechanisms for Risk Assessments

The Question of Authority

What the Taletellers Know That Public Health Does Not Once Upon a Virus

Appendix

Index to Legends and Legend Types

179

(3)

References Cited

182

(19)

Index

201

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials