Abjection as performative force: bolsonarism, the semiotic production of abjection and the heterosexual privilege

Abstract

This article discusses language and sexuality by providing data on how dissident sexualities, performed as abject, can be employed as weapons to politically diminish heterosexual public figures considered heinous. It analyzes satirical cartoons published on X (previously Twitter) that politically criticize the first meeting between Trump and Bolsonaro with agreements that unilaterally benefited the US. The text provides details about the interactional scene, describes the indexical movements of the meeting, and contests heterosexual privilege by redescribing the concept of abjection. The methodology, which celebrates Queer Linguistics and Critical Sexuality Studies, combines conceptual analysis and creative indexicality. Among the findings is a redescription of the concept of abjection as performative, intertextual, and prototypical. Such a redescription has ethical force as an anti-essentialist proposal for the democratization of abjection.