Between life and death : HIV and AIDS and representation in South Africa

This dissertation examines the relation between political and semiotic representation and takes as its focus the marginalized social position of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. It argues that this position can best be understood as a space between life and death. It engages with Michel Foucault's concept of "bio-power" to interrogate what kinds of subjects are produced when power seizes hold of life and, in particular, what becomes of subjectivity when the body is abandoned by power; and also draws on the work of cultural theorists Giorgio Agamben and Judith Butler to consider how conditions of life in South Africa in the time of HIV and AIDS both articulate with and exceed the bio-political. The dissertation first presents a brief account of the history of the epidemic and government responses to it, and then goes on to analyse a series of visual and textual representations of people living with HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Thomas, Kylie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Higgins, John

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8101

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8101