Desposeídos y perversos. Una relectura de “El cobrador” de Rubem Fonseca / Dispossessed and Wicked. A Rereading of “El Cobrador” by Rubem Fonseca

Resumen: El artículo aborda “El cobrador” de Rubem Fonseca. Se pretende demostrar que este relato evidencia la materialidad del malestar de los grupos subalternos, ante la exclusión que experimentan por parte de los grupos de poder en Brasil. Lo interesante de este texto no estriba sencillamente en el reclamo y la búsqueda de igualdad, sino en elaborar una ética que tiene como fundamento la venganza y la rapiña, sustentadas en una promesa incumplida: la repartición equitativa de los bienes (materiales y simbólicos). Asimismo, se desea probar que este cuento denuncia como falsa la imagen de un Brasil en armonía social y presenta, por el contrario, un país sesgado por la violencia, en el que los marginales ya no están dispuestos a seguir soportando más las desigualdades sociales. De otro lado, también se sostiene que este texto muestra la emergencia de un sujeto excluido, pero entendido como un exceso propio del capitalismo tardío, un sujeto perverso y violento.Palabras clave: Rubem Fonseca; “El cobrador”; capitalismo tardío; violencia; perversiónAbstract: The article analyzes “El cobrador”, by Rubem Fonseca. It is intended to show that this story evidences the materiality of the discomfort of subordinate groups, in the face of the exclusion they experience from power groups in Brazil. What is interesting about this text does not simply lie in the claim and the search for equality, but in elaborating an ethic that is based on revenge and robbery, supported by an unfulfilled promise: the equitable distribution of goods (material and symbolic). Likewise, we want to prove that this story denounces as false the image of a Brazil in social harmony and presents, on the contrary, a country biased by violence, in which the marginalized are no longer willing to continue to endure social inequalities. On the other hand, it is also argued that this text shows the emergence of an excluded subject, but understood as an excess typical of late capitalism, a perverse and violent subject, a product of the demands to which contemporary society invites and, at the same time, demands to be an integral part.Keywords: Rubem Fonseca; “El cobrador”; late capitalism; violence; perversion.

Responsibly Engaged: Ideology and Utopia along the Backpacker Trail

<p>By following the backpacker trail beyond the 'tourist bubble,' travellers invest in the ideals of freedom, engagement, and responsibility. Backpacker discourse foregrounds travellers' freedom to mobility as it constructs the world as 'tourable'; engagement is demonstrated in the search for 'authentic' connections with cultural Others, beyond the reach of globalised capitalism; responsibility is shouldered by yearning to improve the lives of these Others, through capitalist development. While backpackers frequently question the attainability of these ideals, aspiring to them reveals a desire for a world that is open, diverse, and egalitarian. My perspective is framed by Fredric Jameson's reading of the interrelated concepts of ideology and utopia. While backpacker discourse functions ideologically to reify and obscure global inequalities, to entrench free market capitalism, and to limit the imagining of alternatives, it also figures for a utopian world in which such ideology is not necessary. Using this approach, I attempt to undertake critique of backpacker ideology without invalidating its utopian content, while seeking to reveal its limits. Overall, I suggest that late-capitalism subsumes utopian desires for a better way of living by presenting itself as the solution. This leaves backpackers feeling stranded, seeking to escape the ills of capitalism, via capitalism.</p>

Responsibly Engaged: Ideology and Utopia along the Backpacker Trail

<p>By following the backpacker trail beyond the 'tourist bubble,' travellers invest in the ideals of freedom, engagement, and responsibility. Backpacker discourse foregrounds travellers' freedom to mobility as it constructs the world as 'tourable'; engagement is demonstrated in the search for 'authentic' connections with cultural Others, beyond the reach of globalised capitalism; responsibility is shouldered by yearning to improve the lives of these Others, through capitalist development. While backpackers frequently question the attainability of these ideals, aspiring to them reveals a desire for a world that is open, diverse, and egalitarian. My perspective is framed by Fredric Jameson's reading of the interrelated concepts of ideology and utopia. While backpacker discourse functions ideologically to reify and obscure global inequalities, to entrench free market capitalism, and to limit the imagining of alternatives, it also figures for a utopian world in which such ideology is not necessary. Using this approach, I attempt to undertake critique of backpacker ideology without invalidating its utopian content, while seeking to reveal its limits. Overall, I suggest that late-capitalism subsumes utopian desires for a better way of living by presenting itself as the solution. This leaves backpackers feeling stranded, seeking to escape the ills of capitalism, via capitalism.</p>

FROM BIOPOLITICS TO THE PRECARITY OF COMMODIFIED BODIES, OR THE APOGUE OF PERFORMANCE

The article presents a philosophical study of the social, political, legal, labor, cultural and anthropological status of a person in modern conditions of informatization, economic liberalism, limited employment, post-democracy, visual culture and a pandemic. The growth of the precariat is regarded as a catalyst for the movement of opposite vectors: the activities of the power and the performative actionism of political subjects. As the optimal integrative tactics of a person of late capitalism, his bodily and spiritual self-exploitation is considered.