Abstract

How might creative practices surrounding oral history contribute to public engagement and to historical research itself? These questions are considered here through a reflective account of the making of the audio drama Positive in Prison: HIV Stories from a Dublin Jail. Positive in Prison is based on oral histories of HIV/AIDS in the Republic of Ireland, gathered in 2016–17 as part of the Wellcome Trust-funded project ‘Prisons, Medical Care and Entitlement to Health in England and Ireland, 1850–2000’. This piece reviews the processes and practical considerations behind the making of the audio drama and its associated launch events, alongside a summary of the history of HIV/AIDS and of prisons that was being produced and shared. It also offers reflections on the advantages and disadvantages of this particular project in relation to public engagement, the uses of oral histories, and creative history-telling.

Highlights

  • This article considers one specific strand of discussion around HIV/AIDS, in order to think about the uses and limitations of human rights discourse in late twentieth century Britain

  • Prisoners were primarily seen as a risk to others, especially in the 1980s as fears of a heterosexual epidemic were at their height

  • As public panic abated and talk of human rights and health rights became more common in the 1990s, the idea of these rights for those in prison was raised but gained little traction

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Summary

Introduction

This article considers one specific strand of discussion around HIV/AIDS, in order to think about the uses and limitations of human rights discourse in late twentieth century Britain.

Results
Conclusion

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