“Too bad you don't understand english”: amazonialism and digital colonialism in fanfictions

Abstract

The Amazon has historically been represented stereotypically, both as an Eldorado and as a Green Hell. Researcher Gerson Alburquerque Rodrigues (2017) calls this process of constructing a Eurocentric imaginary about the region “Amazonialism.” This study problematizes how such a phenomenon manifests within the modern colonial project through digitality, questioning the potential contribution of fan narratives to the maintenance of symbolic violence in the discourses circulating about Northern Brazil. Within this context, this study aims to analyze the representation of the Amazon in fanfictions. The theoretical framework draws on the reflections of Bhabha (2013), Hall (2016), Gondim (1994), Santos (2019), Spivak (2010), Paes Loureiro (1995), among others. The results indicate that, in fanfictions, the Amazon is portrayed as a wild space inhabited by “primitive” peoples. Firstly, a romanticization of the region is observed, depicting it as a paradise untouched by civilization. This idealization ignores the presence and rights of Indigenous and traditional communities that have inhabited the region for centuries. Furthermore, fanfictions tend to portray Amazonian inhabitants through exoticized and hypersexualized imagery. Another aspect identified is the positioning of the Amazon as a setting for Alternate Universes (AU), a locus of adventure and exploration for protagonists from hegemonic Anglophone countries—preferably the United States—reinforcing notions of superiority and dominance over the territory and its natural resources. These narratives have the potential to influence fan communities’ perceptions in insidious ways.