Constructing HIV/AIDS on the Internet: A Comparative Rhetorical Analysis of Online Narratives in the United States and in China
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Social constructions of HIV/AIDS have previously been explored in individual countries and cultures; however, little comparative study has been conducted. This article examines how online communications and the rhetoric(s) identified in discussion forum posts reveal and construct the meaning of HIV/AIDS. We explore how Chinese and American discussion forums rhetorically construct HIV/AIDS illness experiences. A rhetorical topoi analysis of 100 most-responded-to posts demonstrates how specific reasoning traditions and sociocultural beliefs shape the interpretation of and responses to HIV/AIDS. The findings suggest that whereas Chinese participants view contracting AIDS as fate and social death, American participants do not share this intense concern with moral criticism.
Authors: Jingwen Zhang, Huiling Ding
Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, North Carolina State University
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W1602467160