Rafael Roncato

Tropical Trauma Misery Tour is a tragicomedy about violence, falsehoods, and digital populism in the networked image era. This work explores strategies for overcoming dangerous political illusions by tackling the farce and media opportunism of the Brazilian president and far-right populist Jair Messias Bolsonaro— the Myth. In 2018, Bolsonaro was stabbed during a presidential rally campaign. Against a backdrop of polarization, micro-narratives, and misinformation, The Myth starred in an online political campaign where he had complete control over his narrative and self-presentation. This tour investigates how the ambiguity of the stabbing event exposes the network propaganda in the Brazilian political game.