AIDS AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTIONS

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DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): The proposed research aims to provide the basis for the applicant's doctoral dissertation pursuant to the Ph.D. in Anthropology. By conducting extensive interviewing and participant-observation among people with HIV/AIDS in New York City, the applicant hopes to deepen her experience in the methodologies central to anthropology. In addition, the collection and analysis of a large corpus of linguistic data will enrich her skill in the technique of sociolinguistic analysis, as well as provide material for future publication. The research will also broaden her understanding of the social aspects of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. - a topical area that has been of interest to her throughout graduate school. Both the methodological and topical aspects of the research to be conducted during the fellowship year will prepare her for pursuing the practice of anthropology in an academic setting. The proposed research will investigate how the experience of having HIV/AIDS in the U.S. impact an individual's sense of personal and community identity and to what extent this identity is influenced by both verbal interactions in bureaucratic settings and dominant cultural discourses about AIDS. This project will employ the methods of cultural and linguistic anthropology, specifically participant-observation, interviewing and discourse analysis, to illuminate the ways in which people with AIDS' (PWAs') conceptualizations of self-identity are revealed in and constructed through their everyday speech, particularly narratives and conversation. A wide cross-section of PWA informants in New York City will be included in order to understand how experiences of HIV/AIDS are influenced by differences of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors. Strong basic research on PWAs' identity constructions and face-to-face verbal interactions within institutional structures, such as AIDS service organizations, will contribute to practical applications. Careful documentation of the needs of diverse groups of PWAs has the potential to facilitate better dialogue between bureaucrats and PWAs, leading to improved service for PWAs.