Mots pluriels
    Vol.1. no 3. 1997.
    https://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/MotsPluriels/MP397mpeg.html
    © Mark Pegrum


    A Big Disease with a Little Name:
    Responses to AIDS in Contemporary Culture

    In memory of Jok Lawrence
    1967-1997

    Mark Pegrum
    The University of Western Australia


    PEGRUM
    A Big Disease
    with a Little Name

    1. Introduction

    2. Elegies

    3. Activism and Anger

    4. Warnings and Fear

    5. Being Positive

    6. Fragmentation and Dissolution

    7. Conclusion

      In France A Skinny Man Died Of A Big Disease With A Little Name
      By Chance His Girlfriend Came Across A Needle And Soon She Did The Same1

    Thus the singer formerly known as Prince opens the litany of contemporary grievances which constitute his 1987 song, "Sign 'o' the Times", performed nightly as the opening number on his world tour which began that year. It is a sign of the times indeed when a singer of his popularity chooses to commence not only the first single of his album but also his concert performances with a reference to AIDS. Nor is Prince the only mainstream pop singer to engage with this issue; Billy Joel lists AIDS between homeless vets and crack among the string of problematic issues which make up his 1989 "We Didn't Start the Fire",2 while in 1991 Michael Jackson's list of modern crises entitled "Why You Wanna Trip On Me" makes mention of the fact that:

      You got strange diseases
      Ah but there's no cure3

    These few examples, all drawn from popular mainstream singers, are a sure sign of the intrusion of AIDS into everyday consciousness, and reflect a restive feeling of helplessness against this insistent and growing tragedy. The theme of AIDS has in fact invaded every sphere of contemporary art, eliciting a range of cultural responses which highlight important aspects of both the state of art and of Western society in the late twentieth century.

    NEXT PAGE


    Notes

    1. Prince. "Sign 'o' the Times" from Sign "o" the Times. Paisley Park (Warner Bros), 1987.

    2. B. Joel. "We Didn't Start The Fire" from Storm Front. Columbia (Sony), 1989.

    3. M. Jackson. "Why You Wanna Trip On Me" from Dangerous. Epic (Sony), 1991.


    Dr. Mark Pegrum was awarded a Distinction for his doctoral dissertation on the relationship between Dadaism and postmodernism. He is currently lecturing in French and German at the University of Western Australia, teaching German at the Central and Applecross Technical and Further Education Colleges, and teaching English at Milner International College of English. His PhD dissertation has been accepted for publication by Berghahn Books and should be available in 1998.


    Back to [the top of the page] [the contents of this issue of MOTS PLURIELS]