Dismantling the mosaic of misery: Louis Sullivan's paradoxic rhetorical vision

Abstract

HIV/AIDS and other epidemics are just one of the elements of the mosaic of misery that plagues many Americans. The rhetoric of such epidemics is characterized by four primary fantasy themes: groups most affected by the disease, cause of the disease, problems posed by the epidemic, and solutions offered to mitigate the problems. Unlike most rhetoric concerning HIV/AIDS and earlier epidemics, Louis W. Sullivan's first policy speech about HIV/AIDS is characterized by apparent paradoxes between his definition of the syndrome's social causes and his proposed individual solutions. Three interpretations of Sullivan's rhetorical vision are offered: the clown, the raven, and the self‐made man. While they help to create order among the paradoxical elements of Sullivan's speech, they present a gloomy scenario for the African and Hispanic American communities that are disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. A new rhetoric that links individuals to their communities and communities to a larger whole is c...