The Power of Aesthetics: Constructing Paradigmatic Identities of Polio and Tuberculosis in 20th Century America.

This paper is a comparative evaluation using Affect Control Theory and David Heise's Interact Modeling program to create an understanding in why tuberculosis and polio had such a different trajectory in the course of 20th century America. I use key identifying terms for each disease and generate an affilaitive identity schema and explain how these schemas, in collusion with the public imagery used in national propaganda produced very different outcomes for the victims of each disease was interpreted. The biology of each disease has different epidemiological predispositions, however, the public sympathy towards polio victims and antipathy towards tuberculosis inevitably hindered how much funding for research was allocated to each disease, and ultimately, the public impression of the victims of each disease. Through external impression semiotics, polio patients were associated with hapless and unfortunate victims, while tuberculosis victims were "getting their lot" as a social disease of stigma and poverty. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]