Cordel literature: origin, characteristics and examples

THE literature of twine was popularized in Brazil around the 18th century and was also known as folk poetry, because it told stories with regional folklore in a simple way, enabling the simpler population to understand. Its authors became known as bench or cabinet poets. Here in Brazil, cordel literature became popular through the sudden (or guitar players), which are very similar to the troubadours medieval for telling a story set to music and rhymed in the streets of the cities, popularizing the poems that later became the strings.

Origin

THE literature of twine as we know it today had its origin in Portugal with the medieval troubadours (poets who sang poems in the 12th and 13th century), who spread stories to the population, which at the time was largely illiterate. At Renaissance, with the technological advances that allowed printing on paper, the wide distribution of texts was made possible, which, until then, were only sung.

Read too: Portuguese Literature in the Renaissance

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These little prints of rhyming poems that were presented hanging on ropes – or twine, as it is called in Portugal – they arrived in the Brazilian Northeast along with the Portuguese colonizers, giving origin of cordel literature as we know it today, famous in Pernambuco, Ceará, Paraíba, Bahia and Rio Grande do North.

Main features

• The text is written with fixed meter and rhymes that make the verses musical;

• It is of great importance for the folklore, since the cordéis deal with local customs, strengthening regional identities;

• Cordel literature is well known for its woodcuts (wood engravings), that illustrate the pages of the poems.

Read too: Grande Sertão: Paths of literature by Guimarães Rosa

Video Lesson: Cordel Literature

Main authors

• Leandro Gomes de Barros

According to documents, he was the first Brazilian to write cordéis, producing 240 best-selling works. Its strings are very popular in the popular imagination of Northeast Brazil, having Arian Suassuna, great northeastern playwright, popularized throughout Brazil the stories of Leandro in his play ‘Compassionate report’, which had Leandro's strings: 'The will of the dog' and 'The horse that defecated money'.

• João Martins de Athayde

As part of the first generation of authors who had their own publisher specializing in twine, it became popular for using images from Hollywood artists.

João Martins de Athayde, after the death of Leandro Gomes de Barros, bought the rights to publish several of the author's strings. The true authorship of Leandro was recently discovered, but the figure of João Athayde is not of minor importance.

Bank selling twine in Rio de Janeiro.**

Example of string

I saw it narrate a fact that I was amazed a countryman told me That in this last century saw bury a dog With the honors of a potentate. an english had a dog  Of a great pet. said dog died  And the English then said: me buries this dog Even if you spend a million. He went to the vicar and told him: died dog of me And vulture in Brazil You will not be able to end it... - Dog left money? asked the vicar thus. - Me wants to bury dog! Said the vicar: Oh! English! You think this here Is it your country? The Englishman said: Oh! Puppy! Spend it all this time. he before he died a will ready Only four contos To the vicar left. Before English ends  The vicar sighed. - Underdog! said the vicar, What did this poor man die of? What a clever animal! What a noble feeling! before leaving the world Made me a gift of copper. Take him to the cemetery, that I will order it that is, bring the money Before he bury himself, These suffrages It is doable not to save. And there came the dog The money went ahead, There was a moment of burial, present body mass, litany and her ranch Better than some people.

They sent to report to the bishop What the vicar had done The dog's funeral, that wasn't right The bishop there said a lot He was hardly satisfied. He sent for the vicar Ready the vicar arrived Your Excellency's orders... The bishop asked him: So what dog was it, What your vicar buried? It was an important dog intelligence animal  he before he died left to your excellency  Two thousand reis in gold... If I made a mistake, be patient. It wasn't a mistake, mr. Vicar, you are a good shepherd sorry i bother you The bearer is to blame, a dog like this  You see that it is deserving. my informant told me That the case had taken place And I thought this was A disgraced dog. he remembered me I don't do it despised. The vicar opened there The two réis conticles. The bishop said: it's better Than diverse believers. And he said: Provide God That way, about ten died there. And if it wasn't for the money The question was ugly, dug up the dog The vicar was going to jail. But how did gimbre run It was like letters in the sand. the will of the dog, Leandro Gomes de Barros

Summary

Cordel literature came to Brazil with the Portuguese, creating in Northeast Brazil this cordel culture, which is still traditional today. As it is a local literature, its existence strengthens folklore and regional imagination, in addition to encouraging reading. Today, cordel literature is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage, even having a Brazilian Academy of Cordel Literature. Thanks to the large quantity of printing, the cordel became popular for printing on paper the rhymed stories of the improvisers who improvised rhymes on the streets and then continued to be very popular for telling stories in a simplified way to its readers.

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*Image credit: Luciano Joaquim / Shutterstock.com
** Image Credit: Kleber Lamb / Shutterstock.com

By M. Fernando Marinho

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

MARINO, Fernando. "Literature of twine"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/literatura/literatura-cordel.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.