The Location of AIDS

We could easily characterise the emergent field of posthumanism as a critique of various forms of boundary. For instance, posthumanism casts its critical eye on the boundary between human and nonhuman and the boundary between what counts as the body and what does not. The biomedical discourse on AIDS—and on immunology in general—is profoundly shaped by the imposition and reinforcement of various boundaries and distinctions. Foremost amongst these are the boundary between the body and infection and the distinction between different types of bodies (black/white, gay/straight). The following essay explores the subversive potential of applying a posthumanist critique of boundaries and distinctions to the discourse on AIDS and its representations, with a particular focus on those found in Essex Hemphill’s poem “Vital Signs”.

BAPHORAU - A arte como cuidado, saúde e ciência

O trabalho apresenta a experiência do BAPHORAU, evento produzido pelo coletive da Faculdade de Saúde Pública, como proposta de pensar, refletir e reimaginar as práticas e os discursos da/na saúde. Os saberes de corpes que são historicamente negligenciados por parte do discurso da biomédico, se apresentam como protagonistas no evento que se propõem a pensar a saúde a partir de expressões artísticas e novas formas de diálogo com a sociedade. E o BAPHORAU se mostrou como um respiro em tempos de COVID-19, possibilitou homenagear os mortos deste período e criar novas redes de cuidado. AbstractThe work presents the experience of BAPHORAU, event produced by the collective of the College of Public Health, as a proposal to think, reflect and reimagine the practices and discourses of/in health. The knowledge of bodies that are historically neglected by the biomedical discourse, are presented as protagonists in the event that propose to think about health from artistic expressions and new forms of dialogue with society. And BAPHORAU showed itself as a breath in times of COVID-19, made it possible to honor the dead of this period and create new care networks.

»Judenkrankheiten«. Eine methodologische Orientierung im Diskursdschungel

The article suggests ways of dealing with the intricate discourse on »Jewish Diseases« from antiquity up to the present - both within and beyond anti-Semitism. Firstly, it presents a four-dimensional model that systemizes the different ways in which the sources talk about the subject. In employing this model the article develops images of Jews and Judaism constructed by them. Secondly, the article distinguishes between a »documenting« and a »deconstructive« way in which the sources are used in the humanities. However, since sources dealing with »Jewish Diseases« are always biased and based on subjective premises, the article pleads for investigating the latter. This even applies to the modern biomedical discourse, for instance on »genetic Jewish Diseases«, which promotes the biologisation and essentialisation of what it means to be Jewish.

Between Paradigms: Becoming a Pathological Optimist

Using an autoethnographic poststructural lens, I examined my academic journey in becoming a qualitative methodologist. I integrated my mentor’s maxims such as, “the institution will not love you back,” “prisoner of your words,” “make plans; if they don’t work, make new plans,” “one has mentors and tormentors and both help shape us,” “ever the opportunist,” “strategic groveling,” “a mosaic approach to mentoring” and “just get naked.” Despite paradigmatic contradictions between my doctoral and postdoctoral experiences, I gained much from working between the polarities of the social science and biomedical discourse. In time, I became a “pathological optimist,” one of the many lessons learned from an academic mentor that eventually led to my professorship.

Beyond neurological structures

Although clinical criteria ultimately determine the pathological diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, ‘Alzheimer’s’ is also an ordinary sign, falling within a range of other possible signs, values and beliefs that define and are used to interpret dementia and mental diseases. While looking at talk-in-interaction in which two people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s interact with other people, this article tries to show that the way in which both lay and professional people interpret Alzheimer’s signs allows us to shed some light upon the core of the traditional and controversial dichotomy between normal and pathological. The interactions analyzed in this paper show how people oppose biomedical discourse, suggesting that other forms of interpreting aging and forgetfulness are possible. It has opened multiple cartographies or varied spheres of communicability influenced by the signs of Alzheimer’s.