(A John Hope Franklin Center Book.) By Priscilla Wald. 373 pp., illustrated. Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 2008. $84.95 (cloth); $23.95 (paper). ISBN 978-0-8223-4128-4 (cloth); 978-0-8223-4153-6 (paper).
Priscilla Wald, a professor of English at Duke University, wasmotivated to write Contagious by her "conviction that an analysisof how the conventions of the outbreak narrative shape attitudestoward disease emergence and social transformation can leadto more effective, just, and compassionate responses both toa changing world and to the problems of global health and humanwelfare." Communicable diseases are indeed a function of socialinteraction. The outbreaks they cause can lead to fears, anxieties,and the alteration of behaviors and lifestyles. Wald rightlypoints out that narratives of outbreaks have consequences inan interconnected world, both . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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