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| Cordel booklets for sale at the market in Caruaru, Pernambuco. | A book of cordel poetry and woodcuts by J. Borges. |
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| Cordel booklets for sale at the market in Caruaru, Pernambuco. | A book of cordel poetry and woodcuts by J. Borges. |
"Literatura de cordel" (string literature) are pamphlets or booklets that hang from a piece of string (cordel) in the places where they are sold. These are long, narrative poems with woodcut illustrations on the cover, often done by the poet himself. There are traditional themes (romances, fantastic stories, animal fables, religious traditions) and themes based on current events, famous people, life in the cities, etc. The largest concentration of this type of popular literature is in northeastern Brazil. We have some pictures of works by the most famous cordel poets, J. Borges. I have a record of cordel poetry recorded in Pernambuco in 1979. No idea if there's anything on CD yet...
There is a site in Campinas, Brazil, with very large pics of cordel booklets.