Cordelistas paraibanas contemporâneas: Diálogo e ruptura com a lógica patriarcal

Abstract

The cordel booklet, which is a cultural production written predominantly by men, includes questions associated with relations of genre. Such productions (un)consciously inhere the male ideal which praise the aspects concerning to the patriarchal logic. Even with a countless number of booklets written by men, it is found a significant presence of women producing leaflets in various parts of Brazil. Among the production of female authorship in this literary category, our research focused on the work produced by women who write cordel from Paraíba: Clotilde Tavares, Hélvia Callou, Maria Godelivie, Maria Julita Nunes, Maria de Fátima Coutinho and Maria de Lourdes Nunes Ramalho. The aim of this study was to verify by means of thematic aspects and genre representation through discourse, if the female writers of cordel represent societies whose models of sustentation are out of the patriarchal logic and phallocentric.This research is a qualitative one; the quantitative perspective assumes Just a secondary status. The booklets were collected in libraries, but primarily at the writer’s home. Based on this, we have started a process of collection, catalogue and interpretation of the booklets in the light of critical and theoretical categories which deal with the femininities as Del Priore (2005), feminist discussions in Nye (1995), Scott (2005) and Badinter (2005). As this research contemplated a discussion about the cordel literature, we had our reflections based on Abreu (1993,1999; 2006), about the historiography in reference to the production of female authorship in cordel through Santos (2006; 2008; 2009) and Queiroz (2006). We have selected 39 booklets which thematize directly or indirectly questions associated with relations of genre in contemporaneity. It was tested a predominance of booklets which highlights thematics that make reference to the patriarchal logic and phallocentrism (15 booklets), and which brings questions related to feminism (06 booklets). Moreover, the presence of booklets which problematize the life in society (13 booklets). In addition, it is not useless to mention the presence of other thematics which deal with saints, racial prejudice, among others, albeit they are not part of our analysis (05 booklets). In this way, it was verified the representation of women characters who maintain the bonds with the patriarchal and phallocentric logic, but who do not give up a critical position in what concerns to the women rights and a better relationship with the opposite genre – the male.