Theorizing HIV in the French context: perspectives from queer and transgender theory

The HIV/AIDS epidemic prompted an explosion of theoretical production in the anglophone world from the late 1980s onwards. This work demonstrated the biopolitical dimensions and cultural signification of HIV/AIDS. As is so often the case, however, anglophone dominance has obscured the fact of cultural and geographic specificity, leading to a universalizing and frequently US-centric view of what the WHO terms a ‘global epidemic’. This article offers an overview of French theoretical work’s consideration of HIV/AIDS, examining three key recent French texts to theorize HIV: Paul B. Preciado’s Testo Junkie: Sexe drogues et biopolitiques (2008); Elisabeth Lebovici’s Ce que le sida m’a fait: Art et activisme à la fin du XXe siècle (2017); Sam Bourcier’s Queer Zones: La trilogie (2021). These authors approach the topic from the perspective of queer studies, as well as feminist and transgender studies, with Lebovici invested in visual art and culture. I offer an appraisal of these texts and their key concerns, including the relation between art, activism and theory; the consideration of metaphor; the methodologies of autotheory and reflexivity; and the role of nostalgia and melancholia in thinking on HIV/AIDS.