Antologia de literatura de cordel: folhetos premiados no "Concurso de Poetas Populares Nordestinos".

Abstract

The "Northeastern Popular Poets Contest", promoted by the Federal University of Paraíba and the Secretariat of Education and Culture of the State of Paraíba, through the "Library of Brazilian Rural Life" Project, the "Center for Research and Documentation of Popular Culture" and the Research Program in Popular Literature, had as its primary objectives to award authors of unpublished "fair pamphlets", while simultaneously encouraging production in this area in the Northeast. This contest had great repercussions, as 54 popular poets (from the Northeastern states, excluding Maranhão) competed, and one hundred pamphlets were sent. The themes of the texts were almost the same as those traditionally published in Cordel Literature, with emphasis on the pamphlets on: the land and customs of the Northeast (with an emphasis on the exaltation of the homeland), stories of farmers, bullies and bandits; morality; eschatology; social criticism; religious-Christian subjects (focusing on the Bible, the life of Jesus Christ, exaltation of the Virgin Mary), incarnations of the devil; facts and figures from regional, national and universal History and Literature; courage; adventure; love; suffering; betrayal; legends; utopia; wonderful stories, with motifs from popular tales; current issues were also discussed, such as the defense of women's rights; help for the visually impaired, criticism of illiteracy, protection of abandoned children, politics and "events".