Destroçar a carne

Abstract

The study articulates the investigation of two major debates: the crisis of truth and the rationality of violence. Its central aim is to understand how bolsonarism creates a structural divide in truth, between “right” and “wrong”, which operates by attributing "evil" and “danger” to certain social agents, primarily the LGBTQIA+ population. As a methodological approach, the research relied on virtual ethnography, which enabled a case study analysis of a specific group of bolsonarist comedians who can now be seen as one of the “new producers” of “truths”: the Canal Hipocritas. The study outlined three central hypotheses: first, based on Weber's category of ethos, comedy can be viewed as a methodical way of life guided by a certain ethic – specifically, that of “telling the truth about the world.” In the case analysed, the mere work of comedy is to identify danger, and, lastly, that the content of the given ethos – humiliation – is also a rational technique and practice; reflexive and intentional. Therefore, the research moved from a local context – the practices and techniques of a specific way of life – to a broader understanding of the “post-truth” context, as well as the possibility of understanding humiliation – here, linguistic violence – as a rational act. Additionally, it delineates the investigative possibility of a sphere that, albeit minimally, has sought to (re)order discourses and practices in the everyday life of Brazilian “democracy”: the comic.