Abstract

The spread of the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is one of the biggest hurdles facing Tanzanian socio-economic development in the 21 st century (Kessy, Mashindano, Kiria, 2008). According to the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS), there are an estimated 1.5 million Tanzanians living with HIV/AIDS today, with higher infection rates among women-- 7.7 percent compared to men at 6.3 percent (TACAIDS, 2009). The Tanzanian government in collaboration with international donors and non-profit organizations and other stakeholders has committed resources to educate people and construct suitable responses to fight the epidemic 1. While public knowledge about HIV/AIDS has remained high in Tanzania, the information is rudimentary and associated with stigma (Kessy et al, 2008; p. 151). Media gather information and construct particular narratives about HIV/AIDS. Public understanding of the disease is shaped by these narratives, which in turn influence future media representations. Media narratives employ a series of literary and symbolic devices including metaphors in order to engage audiences. Cultural representations and metaphors that are embodied and experiential allow media narratives to cognitively create cultural references in the

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