Affects at play in censorship against art in Brazil of “coupist” and “genocide” presidents

Abstract

The reflection addresses the exercise of censorship against ten works of performing arts during two terms of the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil: the term of the president popularly called “coup leader” Michel Temer, between 2016 and 2018 and the mandate of the president popularly known as “genocidal,” Jair Bolsonaro, from 2018 to 2022. From these mandates, 2017 and 2019 were selected for the sample. After establishing the time frame, the description of a series of ten cases of censorship shows how complaints produced by some Brazilian social segments resulted in censorship interventions carried out by public and private institutions in the political and cultural sectors. The reflection is based on Benjaminian theory, the theory of affections, and the sociological notion of multidimensional racism to understand the rise of reactionary groups among a portion of Brazilian society, encouraged by the coup mandate and later exacerbated by the hate speech of the genocidal president. Taking into account the idea of “sensology” as a modern logic of a sensitivity that is not spontaneous and immediate but constructed, this text demonstrates that, during these two presidential terms, political institutions became a source of encouragement and maintenance of hatred and other affections produced against art and artists from the scene in Brazil today.