The cordel is not dead.
Cordelistas are suffering the fate
of all poets worldwide. A truly driven writer does not cease
to write, but their work gets crowded out by
noisier forms
of entertainment.
At the Nordeste Fair in Rio de Janeiro, I almost missed the object of my search. At the Pavilhão de São Cristóvão, blue tarps were suspended like tents over booths selling
everything from clothes and CDs, to slabs of waxy
carne-de-sol, baskets of hot peppers and bottles of
cachaça. A repentista began to tease us with his song, and we told him we’d stop by later (and
we did, for a more thorough ribbing). Pulsating
forró music emanated from the boom boxes at the CD booths, and couples shuffling in the
arrasta-pé aw6kxtled together in the makeshift
dance areas. Finally, at a small booth, I found what I had been looking for:
literatura de cordel.
Literatura de cordel is a form of ballad poetry from northeast Brazil with enticing titles like
“História Da Moça Que Se Casou Com O
Diabo” (The Story Of The Young Woman Who Married The Devil),
“O Homem Que Virou Mulher” (The Man Who Turned Into A Woman), and “O
Lobisomem Encantado” (The Enchanted Werewolf). These ballads are printed
on pamphlets called folhetos. The
folheto is about the size of an 8 ½ x 5 ½ paper folded over, and may have anywhere from three to 30 pages. The cover page is illustrated either with a
wood block stencil print called a
xilogravura, or in the newer
folhetos, color illustrations resembling comic books.
Folhetos are self-published by the author who produce a few hundred copies at
a time. In the past, cordel poets, or
cordelistas, used mimeograph machines or other rudimentary printing presses. Today, some even use computer printers.
Folhetos are sold at marketplaces arranged on a table, or in the more traditional manner, hanging on a string suspended by two stakes of a small booth;
“cordel” means “string,” hence the name “string literature.”
Literatura de cordel is one of the two types of oral poetry found in northeast Brazil. In the improvised poetry, or
“obra feita”, a singer or
repentista creates stories on the spot,
using action and people around him as inspiration. In
literatura de cordel, though, the poetry is in written form and the
cordelista may read all or part of his story in front of an audience to
entice buyers. Although today’s poet can’t compete against the high volume sound systems in the marketplaces, the
cordel is still written to be read aloud. Usually, the verses are written in
stanzas of six or seven lines with an ABCBDB rhyme scheme. For example, a stanza from
“O Monstro Do Rio Negro” by José Camelo de Melo Resende reads:
Eu quisera ouvir um homem
dizer-me que resistiu,
ao monstro do Rio Negro
e triunfando saiu
para eu lhe dizer na cara:
você desta vez mentiu.
I’d like to hear a man
say to me that he fought
the monster of the Rio Negro
and left in triumph.
To him, I’d say to his face,
“This time you are really pulling my leg.”
The stanza and rhyme schemes, along with the colloquialisms, the tongue-and cheek-humor, and the singsong sway of
Nordestino speech, all stamp the poet’s unique voice onto
the page.
The seeds of the cordel originated in Europe around the 17th century when historical epochs, sweeping romances, conquests of the new worlds and local news were dispensed
by troubadours. In Portugal, when the printing press was too unsophisticated to produce newspapers, current events and adventure stories were transcribed on pamphlets and sold
in marketplaces cheaply as “folhas
volantes” or “flying pages.”
Folhas volantes existed concurrently with the Spanish
corridos, or ballads. The Iberian ballad tradition continued in
colonial South America, but changed once it took hold in its new home.
While still a colony of Portugal, Brazil was sectioned off into
sesmarias, large tracts of land headed by
coronéis who imposed their “law” on surrounding territories. Once
Brazil became an independent nation in 1822, these land grants came to a halt and the
sesmarias were split into smaller farms. These independent farms, run by poor subsistence farmers,
needed marketplaces to sell their goods. As most people were illiterate, the storyteller became a fixture of these marketplaces, both as entertainment and as a dispenser of news. With the arrival
of the printing press in the Northeast, poets were able to duplicate and sell their work. The popularity of the
cordel hit its peak in the first half of the
20th century, then as the population of
Brazil grew, especially along the coast, many poor Northeasterners left for the city in search of better jobs, and the
cordel’s popularity diminished. Today the
cordel is more likely to appear in a museum bookshop than a marketplace. Still, the
cordel is a fascinating piece of Brazilian folklore and the flame has not died out completely.
Oral tradition is the foundation, not just of the
cordel, but of all Northeastern culture. The most obvious reason for this, is widespread illiteracy among the general population. We
see the strong oral culture in the narrative songs of
Nordestino singers such as Luiz Gongaza and Zé Ramalho. Legends and colorful superstitions abound. The poetry of Recifense João Cabral
de Mello Neto, are reminiscent of ballads, as in his poem “The Death of Severino,” a dialog between a migrant worker and two men carrying a hammock with the dead body of “just
another Severino” for burial. Jorge Amado re-creates the speech of Baianos in his novels of Salvador. Though oral culture is extremely interesting for those who are able to partake in its riches,
it does make it harder for the culture to reach a wider audience. In general, the outside world know very little of
Nordestino culture, especially their literature.
The definition of “literature”is often limited to works by members of the privileged class, which in Brazil, often meant being educated in Europe or the United States. The
powerful control the information. Many years ago, I interviewed Dr. Maurice Bazin, co-creator of the science museum
Espaço Ciência Viva in São Paulo. Dr. Bazin told me that it was difficult
to teach science to children in Brazil because many science books were written in Europe and U.S. and didn’t reflect the natural environment of his students. Because books are targeted to
the elite, the price of books are out of reach for many poor Brazilians. A book can cost upward of
25 reais ($10). On the other hand, the
folheto is targeted to the working class and costs
around one real. These folhetos are as well-loved as any book. Many people buy
folhetos and keep them in the family, rereading them until memorized.
Literature which comes from oral culture
places an importance on skillful wordplay. This cleverness is found in the
peleja, or a word duel. The peleja is considered to be one of
the oldest forms of the cordel and is one of the most popular. Unlike the
repentista who makes up duels on the spot, the
peleja is a written-down author’s reconstruction of a famous “verse
battle” between two troubadours. The duel takes place in a particular location—a house, a
fazenda (farm). In the peleja, the poets open their sparring match by praising the host and the guests,
in order to curry their support. Then each poet follows by regaling their own family heritage and personal virtues. The
pelejas focus on a particular subject, such as whether drinking
cachaça is better than abstention, but the aim of the battle is to overcome the other with a flurry of insults, boasting and artful turns of phrases.
Because cordelistas are public writers rather than reclusive literary types, they consider themselves spokespersons for their people.
Cordelistas are of the same social class as
their audience, and a lot of their writing is done after a long day of hard labor. The poets live in the same mud or brick housing whether in the
sertão or in the coastal sugar cane country. The
poet claims proudly to be a “matuto,” which translated means “hillybilly” or “country hick.” The word
“matuto” is derogatory when used by the general public, but when other people of
the same social class use it amongst each other, they reclaim the word and give it power. By making himself the story teller, the country-raised
cordelista gives authority to the
“matuto”. The “matuto” is no longer the stereotype of the simple-minded “hillybilly” but is the one “in the know.” The
cordel ballad usually opens with the narrator claiming he has heard the story
from somewhere, through the grapevine, from an old man, or he has seen in it a newspaper and needs to check out the truth himself. Rarely, has the speaker actually seen the event first hand.
By making the narrator a “reporter,” the poet gives himself, a “matuto,” special status, as if only he was so privileged to get the “scoop.” In the beginning of the narrative, he takes the role
of the “expert,” but as the story continues, the narrator becomes caught in the tumultuous action of his plot and invests his emotion as if he was a participant. Then everyone once in awhile,
the narrator pulls out of the action with a side comment, so that the reader always know who is in charge. Even if the speaker at some point in the
cordel admits, “I’m only creating this verse
in order to sell it,” he may be referring to the fact that someone commissioned him to write a
cordel. This is a common way for
cordelistas to make extra money. But whatever the case,
the poet is a savvy salesman, very clear about his own motives, but who can make fun of himself at the same time.
Like fables, the cordel presents lessons on how to behave morally. A poor society can’t afford to be as freewheeling and individualistic as a rich society, because the poor have
no infrastructure other than what they create themselves. Therefore, behavior must be more regulated. This regulated moral behavior is reflected in the plot of the
cordel. Candace Slater, professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California Berkeley, has written extensively on
literatura de cordel, including one of the most
comprehensive books written in English, Stories On a String: The Brazilian Literatura de
Cordel. She has broken the folheto plot into a six-step pattern. In the beginning of the story, which she calls “the
pact,” the main character is fulfilling what is expected of him/her in society. The second step, the “test,” introduces the antagonist who challenges the power of the main character and the nature
of the “pact” itself. The character “responds,” right or wrong, and this produces a “counter response.” The choice triggers a sequence of absurd or dramatic events which climax to where
a “judgment” is made, whereby good triumphs over evil. In closing, life goes back to normal, reaffirming the social expectations and thus, the “pact is reasserted.”
This structure is revealed in the classic
cordel “O Boi Misterioso” (The Enchanted Ox), attributed to José Martins de Ataíde or to Leandro Gomes de Barros. Colonel Sisenando is one
of the most powerful fazendeiros in the region with his many heads of cattle. His need to be powerful is put to the “test,” when a very large calf is born from a cow considered by the
vaqueiros in the region to be “mysterious” as no one can catch it. The calf disappears and reappears years later as a full-grown ox, with the brand of an adjoining ranch. A
vaqueiro who works for Sisenando recognizes the ox as belonging to his employer, attempts to rope it, only to have the ox disappear before his eyes. The characters must decide whether to let this ox run free or
to capture it. The challenge proves irresistible for Sisenando and his
vaqueiros. For years, they pursue the ox, following leads of others who have spotted it. Well-known
vaqueiros from other parts of the country also try their hand at capturing the ox, only to walk away humiliated. Finally, a strange
vaqueiro comes to the fazenda and accepts the challenge. The other men
suspect the stranger is the devil, but by then, capturing the mysterious ox has become an obsession. The judgment is made to let the devil join them. In the chase, the devil on horseback pursues
the ox to where two cattle trails intersect. As the two possessed ones approach the intersection, the earth trembles, splits open and swallows the ox and the demonic horseman. Sisenando and
the vaqueiros realize that for years they had been pursuing an evil spirit. Sisenando sells his ranch and is never the same again. The pact is reasserted because the legitimacy of the
fazendeiro’s power has been challenged.
The human condition of the Northeast reflect the
cordel’s politics and purpose. Since the time of the
coronéis, the Northeast has been afflicted by social inequality. In modern
Brazil, Nordestinos feel ignored by the central government, yet still suffer the government’s harsh policies. In the
cordel, the people are always struggling to resist the ruling class. Ronald
Chilcote, professor of economics at the University of California Riverside, in his essay “Politics of Conflict in Popular Poetry of the Northeast Brazil” defines resistance as people “react[ing]
to unfavorable conditions [which] is accompanied by organization and mobilization of human resources” in order to improve their lives. The
cordelista, through his work, creates a portrait
of the Nordestino and his struggles. He mobilizes people through using the
cordel’s literary conventions and well-known plots. The conventions are created around the struggle for justice
and though these stories took place “long ago,” they still articulate present confrontations.
One can see this resistance in the
cordel of the cangaço. The
cangaço, a self-appointed populist “army,” was a reaction to the iron clad power of the
coronel. Cangaceiros raided
fazendas under the pretense of distributing the wealth among the poor. The leader of this
cangaço army, Lampião, and his female companion Maria Bonita, are staple
cordel heroes. Lampião in real life was thought of as both a criminal and a god. My mother’s maid in Juazeiro had an “L” branded on her cheek, yet worshiped the man because “at least he didn’t kill
her.” Cordelistas also worship the man. In Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante’s
“A Chegada de Lampião no
Céu” (The Arrival of Lampião into Heaven) Lampião escapes from hell and tries to make
his way to heaven. Satan comes to heaven to reclaim Lampião’s soul. A trial in heaven ensues and Lampião gets the best of lawyers—the Virgin Mary. A final compromise is made when
Jesus presiding over the case, turns to his mother and says:
….Minha Mãe
Vou lhe dar a permissão
Pode expulsar Ferrabrás
Porém tem que Lampião
Arrepender-se notório
Ir até o “purgatório”
Alcançar a salvação.
…My Mother
I’ll give you permission
to kick out Satan
However, Lampião
has to repent for notoriety
by going to purgatory
to reach salvation.
Cangaceiros also relish in divulging heinous crimes, every detail of
it. Antonio Silvino, another famous bandit though not as well-known as Lampião, brags about his life of crime in
the many tales celebrating his lawlessness. In Francisco das Chagas Batista’s
cordel “História De Antônio
Silvino,” Silvino brags that:
“A polícia perseguiu-me…
Eu abracei a má sorte!
Hoje em dia me conhecem
Pelo bravo herói do norte!
“The police chased me…
I embraced bad luck!
Nowadays they know me as
the bravo hero of the north!
In spite of his mayhem, Antônio Silvino is one with his people. Both Silvino and his audience have an animosity, or at least, mixed feelings about the police, who are perceived to be
in cahoots with the ruling class. Bandits, like the people they rob, always seem to be running into misfortune, an everyday staple of life in the Northeast.
This rebellion against authority is seen in the
cordel, which extols the messianic movements of the Northeast. Though Brazil is a Catholic country, many
Nordestinos felt that the Vatican was just too far away to have an impact on their lives in the isolated backlands. The splendor of St. Peter’s seemed too antithetical to poverty and day-to-day struggles.
This combination of poverty, isolation, and spiritual despair attracted people to various holy men, or “messiahs” who embraced the plight of the poor and wandered the land like migrant
workers. Many of these messiahs preached a better life to come, giving followers hope that their suffering would not be in vain. Padre Cícero, a priest from Juazeiro became one of these
backland messiahs. His stamina as he wandered the
sertão inspired those who saw him. Though he was eventually defrocked by the Catholic Church, and prohibited from ministering the
sacraments, his followers pressed on, creating amulets and bronze and gold effigies, and endowing them with healing powers.
Whether considered a cult figure or a saint, Cícero’s legendary status
still inspires huge pilgrimages to Juazeiro. In the worship of Cícero, the people take away the power of the Pope and make their own decision to canonize whom they see fit. The Catholic
Church, one could say, only wants to canonize those who followed the Vatican’s “agenda.” Defying the Catholic Church
en masse can be called a triumph. At the same time, though, just as the
poor want to be accepted into the mainstream, Cícero’s followers too, want the blessings of the church, and they have been fighting to canonize him ever since. In Expedito Sebastião da
Silva’s cordel “A Opinião dos Romeiros Sobre A Canonização Do Pe. Cícero Pela Igreja
Brasileira,” his followers argue that Cícero should join the official ranks of the blessed:
Como é que certos padres
não conheceram direito
o Padre Cícero de perto
procuram com desrespeito
canonizá-lo por conta?
é à Igreja uma afronta
ou um rebelde despeito?
How is it that certain priests
not know Padre Cicero very well?
Do they seek to be disrespectful
by canonizing him with anger?
Is he an insult to the Church
or a spiteful rebel?
The world of the cordel teems with magic
and fantastical twists of fate which seem to visit the most mundane lives. Therefore, magic realism is a staple of the
cordel for three important reasons. First, the fantastic elevates the lives of the
Nordestino, thus giving it importance.
“O Boi Misterioso” turns
vaqueiros from common ranch hands, to knights chasing
the Holy Grail. Writer Marcia Abreu in her book,
História de Cordéis e
Folhetos suggests that the ox represents the free spirit of the Brazilian settler, bolting from its European masters. In
magic realism, the humble soul and his peculiar struggles represent the more complex world at large.
Second, magic realism in the cordel’s fantastical world is in response to Brazil’s landscape, so large, and so uncontrolled, it is like a large slate for the poet imagination to
embellish. Furthermore, his imagination has roots in African, Indigenous and Mediterranean cultures where spirits abound. The
caipora, mentioned in some cordel, is a spirit formed from the mix
of Indian, African and Greek legends. The
caipora roams the forest and confuses hunters by making them lost, or by bringing back to life a beast they thought to have killed. In many
legends, the caipora is large and hairy with a distinctive whistle, much like the North American Big Foot, while in other legends, the
caipora appears more as a small mischievous
pipe-smoking Indian. The more traditional and older
cordel resemble fairy tales of Europe populated with good and evil kings, beneficent princesses and lovestruck commoners. In one such classic
cordel, “Romance Do Pavão
Misterioso” (The Story of The Enchanted Peacock) a young man makes a mechanical peacock in order to kidnap the princess who has been locked up in a tower by
her over-vigilant father.
Third, in the Northeast culture, magic realism is really realism. Life is so unpredictable, it seems as if Fate is always improvising. Misfortune almost seems to be divinely
mandated and seems especially ruthless in its high rate of infant mortality and large scale deaths from hunger and drought. How much of a leap is it then, to believe that a
fazendeiro’s daughter is turned into a snake in Severino Gonçalves’
“A Moça Que Virou Cobra?” As God is capricious in his decision making, woe on those who make God angry! The only thing poor mortals can
do is strengthen their own faith. The characters in Minelvino Francisco Silva’s
“A Mãe Que Xingou O Filho No Ventre E Ele Nasceu Com Chifre E Com Rabo, Em São
Paulo” (The Mother Who Cursed The Child In Her Womb And Gave Birth To A Baby With Horns And A Tail, In São Paulo), must deal with a “birth defect” brought upon by the woman’s excessive cursing
during her uncomfortable pregnancy. (How many pregnant women have had that experience!)
The curse does not only affect the more simple-minded husband and wife, but the
sophisticated medical staff in a São Paulo hospital delivery room who can do nothing more than to lock the “baby” in a cage. The
cordel has a practical purpose, which is to distribute
information. Because of its rhyme, the
cordel is easily memorized by those who cannot read. Alda Maria Siqueira Campos, in her
dissertation-turned-book Literatura de Cordel, e Difusão de
Inovações reveals how in the 1960’s and 1970’s,
folhetos dispensed advice to farmers on issues such as new planting techniques, herd maintenance and how to safely operate agricultural
heavy machinery.
The cordel also functions like newspapers, reporting on disasters such as floods, drought, and plagues of grasshoppers. News events in traditional media are reported objectively,
and are emotionally disconnected from the problem. The
cordel retells the story in the point of view of the people most afflicted. We see how the horrors of a large scale drought, the
cracked earth and dying cattle, affect the lives of citizens who live and breathe in the
cordel itself. Citizens, overwhelmed by fate, appeal to God for mercy, or they press on, fighting
incredible adversity.
In 1979, 100 thousand workers from various sugar cane mills in Pernambuco mobilized and went on strike for better working conditions. Severino Domingos de Lima-Beija
Flor, the union leader and a poet, wrote a
cordel about the strike while sitting at a table in a
bar. “A História Da Greve Dos Camponeses Em São Lourenço Da Mata E
Paudalho” (The Story of The Rural Workers Strike in São Lourenço Da Mata E Paudalho) served as a record of events and a rallying cry for the strikers. At the negotiating table, a 52-year-old woman with a “sour
gut from eating too many sardines” (a common food of the poor), rises up and speaks. She is the collective voice for social change:
Todos escutaram a velhinha
apoiaram o resultado
batendo palma e gritando,
cada um mais animado
e quando foi no outro dia
amanheceu o campo parado.
Everyone listened and supported
the little old woman
by clapping our hands and shouting
each time more enthusiastically,
and when dawn arrived the next day,
the countryside had come to a halt.
The strike was a success. Workers were able to negotiate a 52 percent increase in salary and other fringe benefits including land for subsistence farming. If it wasn’t for such
a wonderful cordel, this triumph would have been buried in an old history book and would have been just one of the many strikes in Brazil’s history.
Is the cordel dying? This frequent question has been asked for many years in the face of the growing popularity of television, and in the diminishing importance of the marketplace
due to better roads and availability of goods. On the one hand, the
cordel has certainly diminished. When I went to Brazil with a small fellowship from the Center of Latin American Studies
at Stanford University, the cordel was hard to come by. I even went to the feira at Caruaru, famous for its
cordel booths, yet I didn’t see any cordel
the day I was there. That doesn’t mean the
cordel has disappeared, it just means perhaps that it is not as regular a fixture as it once was. When I found the
cordel on my journey, it was a wonderful but rare surprise. The
xilogravura prints which decorate the cover of folhetos, are marketed as folk art, on t-shirts and on wall hangings,
sans the poetry. Many cordelistas from the Northeast have moved to São Paulo and
Rio de Janeiro for better economic opportunities. American pop culture threatens to homogenize world culture. Television can be found anywhere, even in small shacks tucked under
the freeway exit ramp in Recife.
However, in spite of grim news, the
cordel is not dead. Cordelistas are suffering the fate of all poets worldwide. A truly driven writer does not cease to write, but their work
gets crowded out by noisier forms of entertainment.
Nordestinos are proud people and
cordelistas regard their work as part of their regional identity. They will not give up such an
important piece of themselves. But the
cordel, like other poetry, is harder to find.
There is hope. Newer cordelistas are emerging, bringing innovative approaches and a modern consciousness. Some young
Nordestinos today see the cordel as a way of
reclaiming their roots, and they see reviving the
cordel as a “mission,” but on their own terms. One talented young
cordelista, José Honório da Silva from Timbaúba, Pernambuco, explores
the materialistic obsession of today’s youth in his
cordel “O Menino Que Deu Na Mãe Por Causa Do
Tomagoshi ” (The Boy Who Hit His Mother Because of A Tamagotchi). Tamagotchis as
we might remember, are those small computerized virtual pets so popular with kids awhile back. In the modern world,
cangaceiros don’t raid fazendas, virtual pets invade the mind. What is
also significant about the new voices is that the
cordel is praising the contribution of blacks in Brazilian culture. There always has been
cordéis written on the slave revolt by leader Zumbi and
his settlement at Palmares, again, showing how the
cordel is the literature of resistance. But in general, blacks in the
cordel were usually at the losing end of the
peleja, or were portrayed having lesser moral character. Da Silva speaks out against racism in many of his
cordéis and praises the contributions of Africa in his
word-frevo, “Dança
Pernanmbuco!”
No batuque na Mãe África
em noite de devoção
fez-se samba e lundu
no banzo da solidão
do cansaço, dos chicotes
nas costas em punição.
The drumming of Mother Africa
during the night of devotion
became the samba and lundu
from the solitude, the longing for home,
the fatigue, the punishing whips
on their backs.
The dearth of women cordelistas has been a disappointment. Traditionally, this is because the public marketplace was originally a “man’s forum,” and was not suitable for women. This
is not the case today and women poets are just starting to emerge. Maria Escolástica da Conceição Nazareth writes of her Bahia, and like da Silva, infuses her
cordel with the pride of African culture. Da Conceição goes further and extends her subject matter to include women. This is a breath of fresh air, as so many women characters in the
cordel appear silly, or are punished for being aggressive. In her
cordel “Adeus Mãe Menininha a Nossa
Ialorixá” (Farewell Mãe Menininha, Our Ialorixa”), she elegizes a powerful
mãe de santo, and mourns along with
other great Baianos:
O escritor Jorge Amado
E o pintor Caribé
Caymmi o grande cantor
Sabem dizer o que é
A força de Menininha
Rainha do Candomblé.
The writer Jorge Amado
And the painter Caribé
Caymmi the great singer
All give credit to the
force of Menininha
Queen of the Candomblé.
Though paper folhetos still exist today,
cordelistas have found a new marketplace: the Internet. A search yields many web sites. The quality varies, just like the
cordel bought in a traditional marketplace, but some pieces are quite good. The advantage of the Internet is that poets can put all their work onto one web site. They usually include their biography, and
many also include links to other cordel sites. Reading virtual
cordel may not be as exciting as finding a booth of
folhetos, but then how many people have the opportunity to end up in a
marketplace just as a repentista begins his song? The Internet illustrates the can-do-ness of the Brazilian.
Sempre tem um jeito. If there is a will to preserve the
cordel, there is a way. And the world wide
feira may be the “way.”
Even with the Internet, the cordel still has the problem of reaching a larger audience because the
cordel is difficult to translate. All literature loses some meaning in the translation,
but with the cordel, this problem is exacerbated as the verse depends so much on oral form, cultural references and a challenging rhyme scheme. Those who read Portuguese are at
an advantage in enjoying these vibrant stories. In fact, even those who understand Portuguese a little would appreciate how the stories seem to unfold so effortlessly.
Literature must struggle to survive. An increasingly impatient world has little time for literature, because it takes longer to read and takes more effort than film and TV. In the
cordel, ideas are not spelled out, but are hidden in the words, the metaphor, the nuance. However, to understand a culture, is to understand its individuals and to read
literatura de cordel, is to understand the soul of the
Nordestino.
SOURCES CONSULTED
Abreu, Márcia. Histórias de Cordéis e
Folhetos. Campinas, São Paulo: Mercado de Letras; Associação de Leitura do Brasil. 1999.
Azevedo, Carlos Albert, “O Realismo Mágico na Literatura Popular da Zona dos Canaviais do Nordeste.”
Brasil Açucareiro 82, (1973) 43-46
Batista, Sebastião Nunes, ed. Antologia da Literatura de
Cordel. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação José Augusto. 1977.
Benjamin, Roberto Câmara. “Literatura de Cordel: Expressão Literária Popular.”
Brasil Açucareiro 76 (1970): 101-12
Bishop, Elizabeth and Emanuel Brasil, ed. An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Brazilian
Poetry. Hanover and London: Wesleyan University Press. 1972.
Campos, Alda Maria Siqueira. Literatura de Cordel e Difusão de
Inovações. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco.1998
Cascudo, Câmara. Dicionário do Folclore
Brasileiro. São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro: Ediouro Publicações S.A. 1998.
Chilcote, Ronald H. “The Politics of Conflict in the Popular Poetry of the Northeast Brazil.”
Journal of Latin American Lore 5:2 (1979) 205-231
Diégues Junior, Manual, Intro. “Literatura de Cordel”. Sebastião Nunes Batista, ed.
Antologia da Literatura de Cordel. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação José Augusto. 1977
da Silva, José Honório. Vida
Viola. Recife: Edições Bagaço Ltda. 1992
Secretaria de Cultura e Turismo. Antologia Baiana de Literatura de
Cordel. Salvador. 1997
Sigaud, Lgyia. Greve nos Engenhos. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra. 1980.
Slater, Candace. Stories On A String: The Brazilian Literatura de
Cordel. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1982.
“Joe Bumpkin in the Wilds of Rio de Janeiro.”
Journal of Latin American Lore 6:1 (1980), 5-53
RECOMMENDED WEBSITES (The status changes constantly)
Jornal de Poesia: Banco do cordel
www.secrel.com.br/jpoesia/coedel01.html
Literatura de Cordel
www.cenapadne.br/~henry/cordel.html
Cordéis High-Tech
www.literaturadecordel.hpg.com.br/
José Honório da Silva
www.elogica.br.inter.net/honorio/index.html
Nordeste Web
www.nordesteweb.com/neliteratura.htm
Kathleen de Azevedo’s fiction and poetry has appeared in many publications. Recently, she received a Community College Fellowship from the Center for Latin American Studies
at Stanford University to develop literatura de
cordel for use in her classes. You can contact her at
azevedo@pacific.cnchost.com
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A Vitória do Bode Cheiroso by Delarme Monteiro da Silva Com esse aperto de vida Não é coisa de poeta Não é um bode qualquer Por quase 500 votos Ele se chama Cheiroso Quando a notícia correu Tomo agora a liberadade O leitor lendo esse verso Porque os bichos não falam Por isso não foi dificíl Assim que lá fui chegando Aproximei-me do grupo Sem deixá-lo agradecer Cheiroso deu 3 espirros Poeta, a minha vitória O povo já não tem fé Eu também trabalhei pouco Uma vez que fui eleito O meu primeiro projeto Bode, cabra e cabritinhos Capim baixará de preço Aqueles que sufragaram Também é do meu projeto Os correligionários E você poeta, amigo Quando Cheiroso findou E foi assim meus leitores Agora digo ao leitor Porém sobra a votação Um vereador dos fortes Determinado por lei *It is customary for a poet to |
The Victory of the Stinky Goat
When life is stressful This story is not the goings-on of poets It is not just some goat With just under 500 votes Stinky, as he is called, When the news traveled I now take the liberty The reader reading this verse We think critters don’t speak, I say to the reader, As I was arriving there I approached the group Without giving him time to thank me, Stinky gave 3 sneezes “Poet, my victory The people don’t have faith In the past I have done some good Once was elected to the town council My first project Goats, nannies and kids My project is to Those who backed Another of my projects is My fellow party members And you, poet, friend When Stinky was finished And it was this way, my readers (Now I say to the reader However, dear reader A councilman of the strong The law determines
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A Mãe Que Xingou o Filho no by Minelvino Francisco Silva A mãe que xinga o seu filho Existem muitas mulheres Agora mesmo em São Paulo Dizem as más linguas que um homem Pois ela xingava o fogo, Ela xingava as cadeiras, Quando o marido falava Certa vez essa mulher Até que um certo dia Comemoramos a morte Ela mostrou pra barriga O homem disse: mulher Disse ela; eu já disse Quando foi a meia noite Depressa pegou um carro A coisa não está boa E assim mesmo ele fez O médico disse: danou-se Foi pegando um injeção Disse o médico: está danado O enfermeiro que ouviu Em nome de Jesus Cristo O moleque deu um pulo Continua esse moleque Se isto não for verdade O povo é que conta isto De qualquer forma é exemplo Por qualquer uma tolice Por isso mães de famílias Deus é quem dá a saúde Jesus disse aqui na terra Quem pedir ao pai da terra Jesus disse que um inseto Portanto vamos a Ele Se temos um filho mau Pois Jesus disse na terra Portanto chamem por Deus Diabo é o pai de mentira |
The Mother Who Cursed Her Baby in Her Womb and It Was Born With Horns and a Tail, in São Paulo
There exists many women Right now in São Paulo They say that a woman who curses She cursed at fire, She cursed at the chairs When the husband spoke At a certain time, that woman Then the special day came: We are commemorating the death She displayed her belly The man said, “Wife, She said, “I already said When it was midnight In a hurry he caught a cab It is not a good idea In any case The doctor said, “I’ll be damned! He picked up the needle The doctor said, “Damn!” The nurse who heard In the name of Jesus Christ The boy gave a hop That rascal still remains (If this story I told The people who told me this Whether really happened or not For any kind of foolishness, For these mothers of families It is God who gives us health Jesus said here on this earth, Who asks the father of the earth Jesus said God knows Therefore let us go to Him If we have a bad child Thus Jesus said on the earth Therefore call on God The Devil is the father of lies |
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