Language, Rhetoric, and AIDS: The Attitudes and Strategies of Key AIDS Medical Scientists and Physicians
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1996
Publication Title
Written Communication
First Page
130
Last Page
157
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088396013001006
Abstract
This article examines the experiences and rhetorical actions of key medical scientists and physicians who have treated, studied, and written about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome since the beginning of the epidemic. Those first to describe the disease report that the rhetorical challenge was convincing their audience to accept the novel idea of acquired immune deficiency and to see the cases they described as an emerging medical catastrophe. The biological, social, and linguistic complications of AIDS and the failure of traditional treatments forced the professionals interviewed to develop new care practices such as more horizontal communication with patients and a holistic view of a patient's needs. Responding to the need to educate and persuade peers and the public about appropriate actions in treating and preventing the disease, these professionals participated in rhetorical action that negotiated between “old” practices and attitudes and “new” problems that required changes in practice and attitudes.
Rights
Version of record can be found through Sage.
Recommended Citation
Reeves, Carol, "Language, Rhetoric, and AIDS: The Attitudes and Strategies of Key AIDS Medical Scientists and Physicians" Written Communication / (1996): 130-157.
Available at https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/facsch_papers/956