In this article, we highlight first-person accounts of living with HIV/AIDS that have appeared in daily newspapers in Quebec and raise a number of questions about how these accounts are received – who is listening and how? Recent Canadian criminal trials of HIV-positive people who are alleged to have knowingly exposed sexual partners to HIV serve as a conjuncture against which we address the culture of HIV/AIDS testimonials and analyse both production and reception of these stories. Drawing on the VIHSIBILITÉ project, we ask what discursive forms and social conditions are likely to favour media discourses that foster a sense of social solidarity toward people living with HIV/AIDS. We argue that community interpretations of storytelling and closer examination of how testimonials are received may provide new tools for critically conceptualizing how HIV-positive persons can be better heard as they speak about their lives.
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