"Aids ist ein Unfall": Metaphern und Bildlichkeit in AIDS-Diskursen Tansanias

Although the AIDS epidemic has seroius consequences for all societal domains in sub-Saharan Africa, the social sciences, including social anthropology, have not paid much attention to the topic. So far, little research has been done on the indigenous perspectives of local populations and their perceptions of AIDS in everyday life. Yet, an exact understanding of local discourses and views is an important prerequisite for the planning of governmental and non-governmental prevention programmes. This article describes how moral discourses have shaped the perception of AIDS on a global level and in local contexts in Tanzania. The analysis centres on the metaphor of the "car accident" which is often used in discourses on AIDS in rural Tanzania and which refers to the social backgrounds of the epidemic: it relates to social change and the faster life in the context of modernity which is associated by the local population with an increased risk - not only with regard to HIV/AIDS, but also for society in general. Finally, it is considered why images from public transport have been favoured when talking about AIDS, instead of other methapors which could have been chosen alternatively.