The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS Epidemic
This paper focuses on the role of the body in the production of New York author David B. Feinberg. Through an analysis of his fiction and non-fiction, we will see how the author continuously employed the theme of the body in order to deal with the traumatic experience of the AIDS epidemic. We will s...
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University of Graz
2023-09-01
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| Series: | AmLit |
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| Online Access: | https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubg:4-46683 |
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| author | Ferrari, Anna |
| author_facet | Ferrari, Anna |
| author_sort | Ferrari, Anna |
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| description | This paper focuses on the role of the body in the production of New York author David B. Feinberg. Through an analysis of his fiction and non-fiction, we will see how the author continuously employed the theme of the body in order to deal with the traumatic experience of the AIDS epidemic. We will see how Feinberg’s three books, Eighty-sixed, Spontaneous Combustion, and Queer and Loathing each represent a crucial phase in the author’s relationship with the disease which also affected him, and ultimately killed him in 1994. By focusing on the theme of the body, we will see how Feinberg’s work is employed both as a way to provoke readers and spark a reaction from the public, and to allow him to deal with the trauma of living as a gay man during the epidemic. Through the main theme of the body, the paper focuses on a few key concepts, such as the stigma attached to PWAs (people with AIDS), the employment of humorin the context of the tragic, the obscenity of human corpses displayed as symbols of protests, politically incorrect behavior, the subversion sparked by a sick person proactively reclaiming his own narrative. Throughout the article,we will see how the theme of cleanliness, in particular, is employed to negotiate with the paranoia caused by the epidemic, and how, in general, Feinberg’s work holds a prominent place in the landscape of AIDS literature. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-43ba4bd320674fa389efa541dbffaa16 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2789-889X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | University of Graz |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AmLit |
| spelling | doaj-art-43ba4bd320674fa389efa541dbffaa162025-08-20T02:21:17ZengUniversity of GrazAmLit2789-889X2023-09-01Jahrgang 3 (2023)Heft 2264510.25364/27.3:2023.2.3AC16936748The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS EpidemicFerrari, AnnaThis paper focuses on the role of the body in the production of New York author David B. Feinberg. Through an analysis of his fiction and non-fiction, we will see how the author continuously employed the theme of the body in order to deal with the traumatic experience of the AIDS epidemic. We will see how Feinberg’s three books, Eighty-sixed, Spontaneous Combustion, and Queer and Loathing each represent a crucial phase in the author’s relationship with the disease which also affected him, and ultimately killed him in 1994. By focusing on the theme of the body, we will see how Feinberg’s work is employed both as a way to provoke readers and spark a reaction from the public, and to allow him to deal with the trauma of living as a gay man during the epidemic. Through the main theme of the body, the paper focuses on a few key concepts, such as the stigma attached to PWAs (people with AIDS), the employment of humorin the context of the tragic, the obscenity of human corpses displayed as symbols of protests, politically incorrect behavior, the subversion sparked by a sick person proactively reclaiming his own narrative. Throughout the article,we will see how the theme of cleanliness, in particular, is employed to negotiate with the paranoia caused by the epidemic, and how, in general, Feinberg’s work holds a prominent place in the landscape of AIDS literature.https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubg:4-46683abjectionaids literaturebodydavid feinbergnew york literaturetraumaliterature |
| spellingShingle | Ferrari, Anna The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS Epidemic AmLit abjection aids literature body david feinberg new york literature trauma literature |
| title | The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS Epidemic |
| title_full | The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS Epidemic |
| title_fullStr | The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS Epidemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS Epidemic |
| title_short | The Obsessive Body: David B. Feinberg's Attempts at Distance While Facing the AIDS Epidemic |
| title_sort | obsessive body david b feinberg s attempts at distance while facing the aids epidemic |
| topic | abjection aids literature body david feinberg new york literature trauma literature |
| url | https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubg:4-46683 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ferrarianna theobsessivebodydavidbfeinbergsattemptsatdistancewhilefacingtheaidsepidemic AT ferrarianna obsessivebodydavidbfeinbergsattemptsatdistancewhilefacingtheaidsepidemic |