cordel Info
-
cordel
-
Cordel is a type of folk literature printed on pamphlets illustrated with woodblock prints. The name indicates the way the poems are presented to the reader; the booklets are hung on strings at street fairs and farmer's markets. Brought over by the Portuguese in the second half of the 19th century, the cordel is still quite prevalent in the Northeast. The poems narrate events in daily life, such as floods and droughts, heroic deeds performed by the cangaceiros (a heavily armed gang that roamed throughout the Northeast scrub region in the first three decades of the 20th century), the lives of other famous bandits, miracles, and events in Brazil's recent history.