Mediating the AIDS crisis

Abstract In this article, I examine how AIDS is remembered and mediated in popular culture by identifying three distinct waves of representation: contemporaneous portrayals in the 1980s and early 1990s, a first retrospective wave in the mid-2000s to early 2010s, and a second retrospective wave emerging from 2017 onwards. Drawing on theories of prosthetic memory, retroactivism, and reflective nostalgia, I propose this tripartite framework as a historiographical contribution that clarifies how mainstream film, television, and digital media have shaped AIDS memory over time. Using a purposive sample of widely circulated audiovisual works, the analysis shows how early representations relied on heteronormative respectability, how the first retrospective wave reintroduced the epidemic through melodrama and selective commemoration, and how the most recent wave expands the field through more intersectional and collective histories. I conclude the article by considering how digital platforms enable new, participatory forms of transnational remembrance.