ABSTRACT

Jair Bolsonaro, the unapologetically homophobic and ultraconservative Brazilian president, managed to emerge from the margins of the political system and gained electoral momentum during the impeachment hearing against Dilma Rousseff in 2016. The hearing, which ultimately demoted the first female president of the country, epitomizes the current affective polarization of Brazil in which sexual dissidence plays an important role. This paper discusses the politics of discourse, affect and sexuality which has drawn Bolsonaro and his far-right ideologies into greater political relief. To do so, I will focus on the scene in which Jean Wyllys, a human rights activist and the only openly gay congressmember at the time, spat on Bolsonaro. Wyllys’ misdemeanor caused a commotion in the country and was recontextualized in several venues such as memes, social media, op-eds, YouTube parodies etc. This paper investigates the intense circulation of Wyllys’ actions and how it responds to and takes issue with the larger affective scenario of the country. I analyze the socio-semiotic life of Wyllys’ spit by tracking its textual trajectory with a view to discussing the performativity of disgust and the forging of political (in)sensibilities with regards to gender and sexuality in contemporary Brazil.

摘要

Jair Bolsonaro，这位毫无歉意的仇视同性恋和极端保守的巴西总统，在 2016 年针对迪尔玛·罗塞夫 (Dilma Rousseff) 的弹劾听证会上，设法摆脱了政治体系的边缘，并获得了选举动力。 最终使该国第一位女总统降职的听证会体现了巴西目前的情感两极分化，其中性异见发挥了重要作用。本文讨论了将博尔索纳罗及其极右翼意识形态带入更大政治救济的话语政治、情感政治和性政治。为此，我将重点关注人权活动家、当时唯一公开的同性恋国会议员让·威利斯 (Jean Wyllys) 向博尔索纳罗 (Bolsonaro) 吐口水的场景。威利斯的轻罪在该国引起了骚动，并在诸如模因、社交媒体、专栏、YouTube 恶搞等。本文调查了 Wyllys 行为的强烈传播，以及它如何回应和质疑该国更大的情感场景。我通过追踪其文本轨迹来分析​​ Wy​​llys 唾液的社会符号生活，以期讨论当代巴西对性别和性行为的厌恶和政治（不）敏感性的形成。