Once Upon a Virus: AIDS Legends and Vernacular Risk Perception
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2004 Once Upon a Virus: AIDS Legends and Vernacular Risk Perception Diane E. Goldstein Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the Folklore Commons, Immune System Diseases Commons, and the Public Health Commons Recommended Citation Goldstein, D. E. (2004). Once upon a virus: AIDS legends and vernacular risk perception. Logan: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. /NCE5PON A6IRUS "*%4-FHFOETBOE 7FSOBDVMBS 3JTL1FSDFQUJPO $IANE%'OLDSTEIN Once Upon a Virus AIDS Legends and Vernacular Risk Perception Once Upon a Virus AIDS Legends and Vernacular Risk Perception ••••• Diane E. Goldstein Utah State University Press Logan, Utah Copyright © 2004 Utah State University Press All rights reserved Utah State University Press 7800 Old Main Hill Logan, Utah 84322-7800 Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Goldstein, Diane E. Once upon a virus : AIDS legends and vernacular risk perception / Diane E. Goldstein. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87421-586-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-87421-587-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. AIDS (Disease)--Newfoundland. 2. Risk perception. 3. Health behavior. 4. AIDS (Disease)--Folklore. I. Title. RA643.86.C22N494 2004 614.5’99392’09718--dc22 2004010414 To the memory of Kenneth S. Goldstein and David Buchan and to the people of Conception Bay North and people everywhere who have been stigmatized by illness Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction Philosophizing in a War Zone xiii 1 “Tag, You’ve Got AIDS” HIV in Folklore and Legend 1 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 2 Bad People and Body Fluids Contemporary Legend and AIDS Discourse 24 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 3 Making Sense Narrative and the Development of Culturally Appropriate Health Education 55 Fact vs. Behavior Risk Perception Health Belief, Vernacular Theory, and Behavior Change Illness and Narrativity 4 What Exactly Did They Do with That Monkey, Anyway? Contemporary Legend, Scientifi c Speculation, and the Politics of Blame in the Search for AIDS Origins 77 Theories of AIDS Origins Animal Theories Isolated-Case Theories Laboratory-Virus Theory 5 Welcome to the Innocent World of AIDS Cultural Viability, Localization, and Contemporary Legend 100 6 “Billy Ray Virus” The Folk Creation and Offi cial Maintenance of a Public Health Scapegoat 116 The Events Legend and the Law AIDS in Conception Bay North The Trial The Ray Corpus Public Health and the Stigmatized Community Conclusion Epilogue 7 “Banishing All the Spindles from the Kingdom” Reading Needle-Prick Narratives as Resistance 139 Contemporary Pinprick Narratives Precursors Legend as Cultural Critique and Agency 8 Once Upon a Virus Public Health and Narrative as a Proactive Form 157 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 References Cited 182 Index 201 Acknowledgments ore than any other part of the writing process for this book, the Mpart that I have dreaded the most has been the acknowledg- ments. When one has felt so continually surrounded by supportive and helpful people, it becomes nearly impossible to feel confi dent that everyone who deserves to be thanked will make it safely onto the pages of appreciation. To those whom I should have mentioned here and did not, I extend my apologies. Please know that I am nevertheless indebted to you for your insights, encouragement, and assistance. Those who are mentioned here should in no way, how- ever, be held accountable for any errors (of fact or judgement) these pages may contain. I am grateful to a number of agencies that generously helped to fund this research. The Institute for Social and Economic Re- search funded the early years of the AIDS project and provided seed support for the fi eldwork and media analysis. The Social Science and Humanities Research Council funded the latter years of this work and continues to support my ongoing study of legends and vernacular health discourse. The Offi ce of the Dean of Arts and the Offi ce of Research at Memorial University provided assistance with travel funding, which allowed me to discuss these issues with other scholars in both folklore and public health. The Folklore Depart- ment at Memorial provided occasional graduate research assistants, which made an enormous difference in my ability to handle the large amounts of material that ultimately became part of this project. An earlier version of chapter 5 was published in Contemporary Legend 2 (1992): 23–40. Thank you to editor Cathy Preston for permission to reprint portions of that article here. Thank you also to Kevin Tobin (KT) for granting permission to reprint his edito- rial cartoon originally published in the Evening Telegram. I wish to express my appreciation to John Alley and the staff at USU Press for expertly guiding this manuscript through the review and publication process. This book would not have been written without the help of those individuals who allowed themselves to be interviewed, fi lled ix x Once Upon a Virus out questionnaires, and passed on e-mail messages, newspaper clip- pings, jokes, stories, and letters. Due to the sensitive nature of much of the material, I do not mention most of these individuals by name, but their anonymity is in no way a measure of my gratitude. With- out them there would have been no AIDS project. My colleagues at Memorial University were characteristically generous with their time, expertise, and support. For several years hardly a week went by when Paul Smith did not put some relevant bibliographical item or popular culture tidbit in my offi ce mailbox. Paul taught me much of what I know about legend through endless conversations and patient responses to my questions and by mak- ing his massive legend library always accessible. Martin Lovelace and Philip Hiscock helped me to fi nd missing pieces of informa- tion while I was writing. Peter Narvaez, Diane Tye, Neil Rosen- berg, Gerald Pocius, Pat Byrne, Gerald Thomas, Larry Small, Wilf Wareham, Giovanna Del Negro, and John Ashton all at one time or another passed on something they had seen or heard about AIDS and in general provided departmental support. Colleagues in other departments were also helpful supports, especially Susanne Otten- heimer, Mark Tate, Wayne Fife, Robert Paine, Bert Riggs, Ian Bow- mer, Linda Philips, and Terry Murphy. Sharon Roseman supported me in every way a friend and colleague could, from reading drafts, to listening as I worked my way through ideas, to pulling me out for coffee when the going got tough. Jill Blackwood, Krista Browne, Brenda Carew, Lorna Griffi n, Michelle Hart, Adam Hayden, Paula Hayes, Scott Kelly, Kevin Martin, Nicole Parisi, Robert Penney, Debbie Ryan, Gertie Shep- pard, Lorna Griffi n, Marie-Annick Desplanques, and John Harries were wonderful research assistants over the years. Jon Lee, my as- sistant on the legend and health project, provided a variety of sup- ports, not the least of which has been his incredible facility with computers and software. Lynn McNeil provided invaluable editorial and bibliographic assistance. She has been my right-hand person in getting this manuscript fi nished. I have learned not only to trust her eye for detail but also her comments on content. Barbara Reddy, transcriber extraordinaire, brought her considerable transcribing skills to many of the interviews. Sharon Cochrane, Cindy Turpin, and Karen O’Leary provided excellent offi ce support with their in- credible ability to solve almost any problem. Their willingness to help, their networking, their technical skills, their friendship, and Acknowledgments xi their always interesting offi ce stash of good things to eat made every problem easier to manage. Many people in the community outside the university provided assistance, support, and information. Tom Mills provided me with access to the public documents pertaining to HIV-related cases, an- swered my endless questions about the law, read several drafts of chapter 6, and always demonstrated an interest in what I was doing. Gerard Yetman, former director of the AIDS Committee of New- foundland and Labrador continually answered my questions and was always willing to discuss the issues. Colleagues and friends in other provinces and countries also de- serve to be thanked. Cindy Patton’s work on AIDS has long served as an inspiration to me, and our personal discussions of some of these issues have been crucial to my thinking. Sally Peterson, my sister in every way except biology, cheered me on at every turn. Participants in the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research taught me a lot about this material and continually sent me things they thought would be of interest. I would especially like to thank Bill Ellis, Gillian Bennett, Sylvia Grider, Elissa Henken, Cathy Preston, Michael Preston, Jan Brunvand, and Mark Glazer. Elaine Lawless, Joe Goodwin, and Glenn Hinson have been par- ticularly supportive over the years. My good friends, Jeannie Thom- as, Carl Lindahl, Sally Peterson, Sharon Roseman, Tom Mills, and Lori Fritz, have helped me process ideas or have read early drafts of chapters and provided me with invaluable commentary.