The construction of a social phenomenon: AIDS in the French press

The analysis of articles about AIDS published from 1982 to 1986 in 6 national French dailies sheds light on how the 'AIDS social phenomenon' was constructed during this period. The press passed information about this new disease from the medical domain into the public sphere. As the press circulated AIDS news (information) among various groups and emphasized the rapid extension and catastrophic proportions of this unforeseen 'epidemic', AIDS became an issue around which social relations polarized. The processes at work during the four phases of the construction of this social phenomenon are described: naming, comparisons with past epidemics, popularization of medical knowledge and symbolic values attributed to it, competition over claims to discoveries and patents, discourses about the other (in particular, homosexuals). During each phase, a concept or fact related to progress in the medical sciences served as the basis for attempts to make a meaning out of this new disease.