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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the figure of the Spanish influencer Amadeo Llados and proposes an analysis of the masculinity promoted by viral “mentors” via its ritualistic dimension, providing a virile cartography where contemporary and past imaginaries of rampant masculinity collide.

Paper long abstract

Drawing on a methodology rooted in cultural studies and informed by a post-Warburgian perspective, this paper examines the figure of the prominent Spanish influencer Amadeo Llados. It proposes an analysis of the masculinity promoted by such viral “mentors” through its ritualistic dimension, providing an initial outline of a Landkarte –a complex virile cartography where contemporary and past imaginaries of rampant masculinity collide. The study aims to demonstrate that contemporary remasculinisation (Gótzen 2024) constitutes a replica: a serial repetition of a “phratry” (Parrini 2016) that is perpetually summoned. Such symbolical Wiederkehr represents a regressus to a masculine “point zero,” in which personal renunciation and the accumulation of wealth and assets form the anomalous recipe intended to salvage a supposedly eroded virility. Through an analysis of visual apparatuses on social media, this study links the masculine mentorship advocated in this case study to a broader digital and offline masculine constellation. In doing so, it draws parallels with subcultures such as the “prepper” milieu –a survivalist trend that seeks a kind of magical formula aimed at restoring an independent, autonomous, and plenipotentiary masculinity in times of emergency and uncertainty.

The results presented herein are associated with the Research Accelerator project BODYBOYCOMM: Masculine Restoration, Bodies and Digital Imaginaries (UOC), led by Dr. Miguel Rivas Venegas and Prof. Dr. Begonya Enguix Grau.