Cultural memory of HIV between historical documents and artistic representations: a case study

Abstract

The HIV crisis gave rise not only to a public health crisis but also to a transformation in cultural narratives, shifting from discourses centred on fear and grief towards others focused on memory, activism and survival. This study analyses the construction of this memory through the Australian Response to AIDS Oral History Project and its artistic offshoots. Methodologically, an interpretative qualitative approach was adopted, developed as a cultural case study and its artistic derivatives. Using theoretical and purposive sampling, documentary, oral and audiovisual sources were analysed using a narrative-cultural analysis guide designed ad hoc. The analysis, based on emergent and deductive thematic categories, examined the representation of HIV, stigma, activism, the affective dimension of the disease and the construction of cultural memory through intertextual relationships between testimonies and cultural works. The analysis highlights the central role of testimony in shaping collective memory and in the fight against stigma. The cultural narrative of HIV shows continuity from the 1980s to the present day, establishing itself as a tool for raising awareness and humanising the disease. In conclusion, we can state that autobiographical narratives and their adaptations amplify individual experiences, contributing to global activism. However, stigmatising representations persist in contemporary cinema and, despite progress in reducing stigma, challenges remain in their portrayal, which underscores the importance of life stories in the construction of a critical and transformative cultural memory.