Abstract:
This article discusses the relationship between populisms and aesthetic transgression in a context of massification, based on an analysis of Lulism and Bolsonarism in Brazil. Divided into three parts, the article first takes up Jacques Rancière’s idea of aesthetics as the “partage du sensible” to discuss the link between the transgressive performances of populist leaders and the mobilisation of invisible sectors. It argues that, beyond the style of its leaders, populism generates an aesthetic crisis by bringing the invisible masses into the public sphere. The second part examines the contemporary processes of invisibilisation and massification and presents a typology of the masses in Brazil, distinguishing between the subaltern, the precarious and the mob. The third part assesses how Lulism and Bolsonarism deal with transgression and mobilise different fractions of the masses. It concludes that in order to confront Bolsonarism, the left must recover transgression and reconnect with the excluded masses.
* Keywords:
Populism
;
Aesthetic Transgression
;
Lulism
;
Bolsonarism
;
Subaltern Studies