from brazilian popular prints published by redstone press. this is the first book to appear in english devoted to the startling woodcuts that illustrate the brazilian literatura de cordel. this ‘string literature’, the work of virtuoso popular poets, originated in the harsh back lands of north east brazil. these passionate narratives, by turns realistic and fantastic, now comic, now tragic, at once reflect the realities and the dreams of the brazilian poor.
it’s a wonderful little volume full of down and dirty woodcuts from folhetos, small poetry chapbooks, cranked out on simple hand presses in the manner of the broadsides and pamphlets popular in europe throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.
from the essay which accompanies the prints:
the striking woodcuts, known as xilogravuras, are a familiar sight throughout brazil. as illustrations on the covers of cheap pamphlet poetry, bold prints on paper or more elaborate designs on cloth in the form of wall hangings, they are found on sale in many fairs, market and street stalls. although simple in style, even at times naive, this popular art form captures much of the richness and complexity of contemporary brazilian culture, where wealth and poverty, the traditional and the modern, the rural and the urban constantly merge together to produce new modes of expression and cultural products. many are humorous and playful, with satyrical images which mock modern fashions or rebuke the arrogant and the pompous, though others convey sharp social protest. a myriad of themes and issues are given expression by the popular imagination and conveyed in simple images.
the following are some examples from the book. click all for larger images and (readable) text.
the power of st. bartholomew
the boy who turned into a donkey
lampiao fights the devil
the scandalous ways of today
the marriage between the jaguar and the monkey
the smoke of death that is destroying a generation
the mysterious warning of the image of the mystic rose
the example made of the sun who killed his parents to gain his inheritance
the prankster and the skull
and when he saw the skull again,
he couldn’t run anymore,
for he was completely exhausted,
so he leapt into the water
to try and save himself,
but ended up drowning.
and the skull said:
you must never joke at other people’s expense,
and now you’re going to live where i live,
for a century that will never end, amen.
you made fun of a skeleton,
-now you’re a skeleton yourself.
the girl who got married 14 times and still remained a virgin
cafu, the king of laughter
the woman who deceived the devil
the girl who died and the dog who wouldn’t let her be buried
that’s all folks! hope you enjoyed.