Reflexões sobre o imperativo do gozo e a mercadorização da cultura

Abstract

Assuming žižekian thinking and having in mind the context of contemporary post-industrial society, this article aims to discuss the relationship between the prevailing ideology of enjoyment and the growing process of commodification of culture in our time. We approach the particular case of Recife’s Carnival as an illustrative resource for our reflection. The instrumentalization of culture as a resource to be applied to achieve economic and socio-political growth establishes the parameters of how popular festivals should be held and enjoyed. The parties are conceived, planned, and prepared within the horizon of the consumption experience, and can be considered objects of desire of the subject-consumer. The historical and cultural dimensions are relegated to the background in the realization of events. Through this libidinal economy, capitalism advances in transforming the elements of social life into commodities/objects of desire, supporting the maintenance of its market logic.