Flusser, the inverted prophet: the criticism of consumer society and the apparatus of the military dictatorship in correspondence between Vilém Flusser and José Bueno

Abstract

This article selects and analyzes letters exchanged between Vilém Flusser and José Bueno, preserved in the Vilém Flusser São Paulo Archive. The research focused on reading the correspondence exchanged from May 29, 1971 to July 10, 1975 - which corresponds to 30 letters, of which 15 are directly cited in this article. It was understood that the selected letters begin and conclude a certain thematic axis discussed among them, precisely about economics and international politics and the situation of Brazil in the global scenario of the time. Through research in this archive, some modulations were discovered on how Flusser discussed events that were contemporary with him, such as the 1973 oil crisis, the Watergate case and especially the Brazilian military dictatorship. The letters also demonstrate Flusser's interest in emerging futurology, in moments when the philosopher discusses what would become of the world in the face of an increasingly poignant consumer society that was already showing fatigue.