Fear and hope: psychoanalyzing the Brazilian Electoral Campaign 2022
摘要
This article examines the 2022 Brazilian electoral campaigns of Lula and Bolsonaro through the lens of psychoanalysis, focusing on how affects such as love, hate, and anguish circulated within their discourses. Through empirical analysis, I show how the candidates mobilized affects, constructed identities and projected fantasies that demonized one another in a deeply polarized context. The findings reveal that hatred was central to both campaigns, fostering a good-versus-evil dichotomy and intensifying polarization. This analysis provides a fresh psychoanalytic perspective on political discourse, foregrounding affective dynamics and offering new insights into contemporary political narratives.