Mediatized Sapiens: Communicational knowledge

Ana Paula da Rosa 174 So, when we think of the children’s faces in the favela, we come across an effaced image, but that does not imply the end of the face. On the contrary, perhaps what allows its resistance mode is precisely its symbolic non-attribution, its denial as a face in the media circulation. In other words, the denied im- age of murdered children in Brazil makes possible a fight against an emptying of meanings by the simple replication of formula and makes feasible resignifications. In the case of Syrian chil- dren, we see their photographs, but they are on the edges of the face. The suffering is intense, but it does not lead to effective changes. The absence of photos of children in the favelas, except for archive images, allows counter-agencement actions such as those developed by Redes da Maré, which take an active place in the production of meanings. Lévinas (1980), in this aspect, already indicated that it is impossible to kill the other because even when death materializes in an act, the other escapes. Mar- cus Vinicius, Agatha, João Pedro escape, even without an outline of their faces. In this sense, the author calls us to think about ethics of alterity. This ethics9, in our view, calls into question our learning of media logics and demands mediatization log- ics, therefore, going beyond the repetition of valued models but counteracting the flows based on the knowledge that circulates. It is more than repeating formulas, like the exhibition of childish faces for shock; the ethics outlined here emphasizes the creative place, the production of meanings and conditions of visibility and recognition, and even questioning established norms. As Lévinas (19180) suggests, ethics is from the sensitive order and resides in contact with the other, external, but requests acceptance and solidarity. In this aspect, we consider that the mediatization logics go far beyond those perceived 9 During the seminar, another point to which José Luiz Aidar Prado contributed to the ongoing research is to think about Lévinas’ ethics of alterity and the po- litical relationship that does not gain so much emphasis in his work. In a study of ethics, Terry Eagleton considers that Lévinas, Badiou, and Derridá, among others, did not sufficiently problematize the dimension of politics. Furthermore, the author questions the idea of guilt that emerges from universal and infinite responsibility. The criticism of Lévinas, of course, needs to be deepened. How- ever, in this article, our perspective considers the political dimension as a way of living in society and a process inherent in producing images and assigning value to interactions. That is, circulation allows politics and ethics to be thought of not as opposition but as a way of acting.

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