Cordel literature
Encyclopedia
Cordel literature are popular and inexpensively printed booklets or pamphlets containing folk
novels, poems and songs, which are produced and sold in fairs and by sidestreet vendors in the Northeast of Brazil. They are so named because they are hung from strings in order to display them to potential clients. They form one of the least altered continuations of the Western traditions of popular literature, such as chapbook
s, and popular prints. This genre of literature was also found in Spain during the 18th and 19th centuries, and offered readers a wide array of topics, from basic instruction to political tracts.
They are usually produced in black and white, in quarto
format, and are illustrated with woodcut
s. They come from the papel volante
tradition of Portugal
. The cordel literature found its zenith in the decades of 20s and 30s, with the popular legend created by the cangaceiros
of Lampião
, a band of outlaws and bandolier bandits who terrorized the region for almost 20 years. The War of Canudos
, a military conflict in the state of Bahia
, 1896-1897, has been also a frequent theme of cordel literature, due to its epic dimensions and importance for the history of the Northeast backlands.
Some of the main authors from the past are Leandro Gomes de Barros (1865-1918) and João Martins de Athayde (1880-1959).
There are a lot of not-well-known cordel authors in Brazil, although there are still chapbooks that tell widely known old tales, even reivented, in a new context. See as an example a masterpiece of the past decades: "A Chegada de Lampião no Inferno" (The Arrival of Lampião in Hell) by José Pacheco, as well as today's "A Chegada de Lula no Inferno" (The Arrival of Lula in Hell); besides "classics", living folk poetry say to us much both about cordel and its strong roots in the day-to-day life of the people and its place in the Brazilian Culture as a whole. Two expressive woodcutters are Adir Botelho and Jose Francisco Borges, whose woodcut
s have been exhibited in the Louvre
and the Smithsonian.
Cordel Literature can still be found in the Northeastern states, most notably in Pernambuco
, Paraiba
and Ceara
.
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
novels, poems and songs, which are produced and sold in fairs and by sidestreet vendors in the Northeast of Brazil. They are so named because they are hung from strings in order to display them to potential clients. They form one of the least altered continuations of the Western traditions of popular literature, such as chapbook
Chapbook
A chapbook is a pocket-sized booklet. The term chap-book was formalized by bibliophiles of the 19th century, as a variety of ephemera , popular or folk literature. It includes many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales,...
s, and popular prints. This genre of literature was also found in Spain during the 18th and 19th centuries, and offered readers a wide array of topics, from basic instruction to political tracts.
They are usually produced in black and white, in quarto
Quarto
Quarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...
format, and are illustrated with woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s. They come from the papel volante
Papel volante
Papel volante is a Portuguese name that designates a form of popular literature that may include popular prints. They date from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, and are usually in an eight page quarto format. They were at their height in the eighteenth century...
tradition of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The cordel literature found its zenith in the decades of 20s and 30s, with the popular legend created by the cangaceiros
Cangaço
Cangaço is the name given to a form of "social banditry" in the Northeast of Brazil in late 19th and early 20th centuries. This region of Brazil is known for its aridness and hardships, and in a form of reaction against the domination of the land owners and the government, many men and women...
of Lampião
Lampião
"Captain" Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, better known as Lampião , was the most famous leader of a Cangaço band, marauders and outlaws who terrorized the Brazilian Northeast in the 1920s and 1930s.-Biography:...
, a band of outlaws and bandolier bandits who terrorized the region for almost 20 years. The War of Canudos
War of Canudos
The War of Canudos was a conflict between the state of Brazil and a group of some 30,000 settlers who had founded their own community in the northeastern state of Bahia, named Canudos...
, a military conflict in the state of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, 1896-1897, has been also a frequent theme of cordel literature, due to its epic dimensions and importance for the history of the Northeast backlands.
Some of the main authors from the past are Leandro Gomes de Barros (1865-1918) and João Martins de Athayde (1880-1959).
There are a lot of not-well-known cordel authors in Brazil, although there are still chapbooks that tell widely known old tales, even reivented, in a new context. See as an example a masterpiece of the past decades: "A Chegada de Lampião no Inferno" (The Arrival of Lampião in Hell) by José Pacheco, as well as today's "A Chegada de Lula no Inferno" (The Arrival of Lula in Hell); besides "classics", living folk poetry say to us much both about cordel and its strong roots in the day-to-day life of the people and its place in the Brazilian Culture as a whole. Two expressive woodcutters are Adir Botelho and Jose Francisco Borges, whose woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s have been exhibited in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
and the Smithsonian.
Cordel Literature can still be found in the Northeastern states, most notably in Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
, Paraiba
Paraíba
Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east...
and Ceara
Ceará
Ceará is one of the 27 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is currently the 8th largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the main touristic destinations in Brazil. The state capital is the city of...
.
External links
- Biblioteca Cordel On-Line (in Portuguese)
- Tesoros Trading Company reprint of New York Times article about Jose Borges(in English)
- Academia Brasileira de Literatura de Cordel (Portuguese)
- Literatura de Cordel do Brasil (in Portuguese)