«And AIDS, girl, what a thing!»: The first decade of aids in the newspapers of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Abstract

Since its emergence in the 1980s, the AIDS pandemic has transcended the biological sphere to establish itself as a field of intense scientific, geopolitical, and ideological disputes. The narratives produced about the virus not only sought to explain its origins but also permeated daily life and history, shaping a social imaginary that has been profoundly transformed over these four decades. Under this premise, the present article aims to analyze the discursive practices regarding HIV/AIDS in newspapers from the state of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil) during the 1980s, the first decade of the virus. Methodologically, the research utilized the Digital Newspaper Library platform to access digitized dailies, selecting the newspaper O Poti due to its regional relevance and thematic density. Grounded in the perspective of social constructionism on discursive practices, the collected material was organized into identification and analysis tables through a comprehensive reading of the texts. The results demonstrate that HIV/AIDS strained the medical-technological knowledge of the time and its speeches generated significant social panic. This fear manifested in the construction of the «other» as a defense strategy against the unknown, although it also ambiguously stimulated various forms of resistance. It is concluded that media discourse was central to the production of meaning regarding the disease. By questioning historical stigmatization, this work seeks to contribute ethically and politically to the field of study, deconstructing prejudices rooted in social memory.