Tyrant, madman and arsonist: BolsoNero. Analysis of the constitution of assimilation between the President of the Republic of Brazil and the Roman Emperor as allelopoiesis

Abstract

Over the centuries and with the use of multiple languages produced by various cultures, Emperor Nero became quite the universal symbol of tyranny. Mainly associated with madness and destruction, remembering Nero has served to criticize various rulers who lived after him and committed crimes that could somehow be linked to those attributed to Nero. Such approaches varied a lot over time and space and allowed the constitution of a broad and multifaceted repertoire of Neros produced in politics, literature, cinema, music, etc. This repertoire fostered a tradition composed of the association of the "original" Nero with the various characters and contexts of the "new" Neros. This tradition allowed both a new interpretation of the past and an original reading of the present. Thus, there is a reciprocal and simultaneous construction of the past(s) and the present, generating an allelopoiesis process, producing Neros that do not belong exclusively to the past or the present, but inextricably merge and confuse these temporalities. This process originated different syntheses that communicate ideas through a tradition in the form of repertoire to be appropriated and modified multiple times. This article focuses on the case of the President of the Republic of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, nicknamed BolsoNero.