Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Title:	Brazilian Market Literature
Inclusive Dates:	1975-1997
Quantity:	0.25 linear ft.
Abstract:	Examples of popular literature items sold in local markets in Brazil, known as literatura de cordel
Language:	Except for one modern-era zine, which is bilingual and includes text in English, the collection is entirely in.Portuguese.
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives

Biographical History

"Market literature" refers to a type of popular reading material which was published in inexpensive pamphlets and booklets and sold in local markets. It was particularly prevalent in areas of the Global South, including Latin America and Africa. Market literature frequently documents folklore, popular culture, and social and political issues of the time.

In Brazil, this material was known as literatura de cordel due to the fact that the printed items were often suspended on cords for display in the markets. The time period covered by this partcular collection spans a difficult period in Brazilian history. In 1964 the Brazilian armed forces, with backing from the United States government and with the support of various conservative sectors of the country including the Catholic Church, took control of the country through a military coup. Nominally guided by principles of nationalism, economic development, and anti-communism, the new regime was extremely authoritarian and oppressive. It instituted aggressive censorship and committed extensive human rights abuses such as institutionalized torture, suspension of habeas corpus, extrajudicial killings, widespread arrest and detention of dissidents, and forced disappearances. The new Constitution enacted in 1967 was highly restrictive, actively stifling freedom of speech and political opposition. This period of nationwide repression lasted until the mid-1980s, when various forces combined to topple military regimes across South America. In 1982 Brazil held its first free elections since the coup, and in 1988 the country passed a new Constitution and officially returned to democracy.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Brazilian Market Literature Collection consists of printed items dating from the 1970s to the 1990s. A few items are reprints of material from the 1950s. The collection represent a sampling of marginal ephemera from a period of enormous political repression and censorship in Brazil, forming an important record of folk and popular culture during and after the military dictatorship. The collection also includes a modern-era zine entitled "Publicaçao nas margens do Brasil: literatura de cordel, 1970s-80s," published by Fugitive Materials in 2024, in which are reproduced the covers of many of the items.

Approximately two thirds of the publications are folk tales, biographies of noted Brazilians, or works by contemporary poets dealing with social issues. Of particular interest are a 1982 poem explaining why the poet wants to marry a feminist ("Eu quero e ser madamo e casar com feminista"), a 1986 booklet in praise of Brazilian politician and scholar Otávio Mangabeira ("Otávio Mangabeira - O maior democratica que conheci"), a 1987 pamphlet on HIV ("AIDS - a doença do século"), and a booklet on Esperanto. Authors represented in the collection include Leandro Gomes de Barros, Alípio Bispo dos Santos, Teodoro Ferraz da Camara, Jose Pacheco, Minelvino Francisco Silva, and Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante.

Most of the items are small format (4.5" x 6.5") stapled booklets of lightweight paper similar to newsprint. Some covers have woodcut illustrations, others have on the front and/or back a photograph of the subject or the author. Some have covers in a different color (light blue, pink, or green) and two or three items have full-color illustrations on the cover, but the majority of items are entirely in black and white only.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Material is arranged by year but within each year is in no particular order. The modern-era zine is filed first, and undated items are filed at the end.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

See also the African Market Literature Collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Brazilian Market Literature Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 2024.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: Michele Combs
Date: 17 Jan 2025
Revision history:

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Inventory

	Printed material
Box 1		Publicaçao nas margens do Brasil: literatura de cordel, 1970s-80s / Publishing on Brazil's margins: Cordel literature 1970s-80s 2024 - zine with a brief essay on the nature and context of literatura de cordel and reproductions of a number of covers
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1975
			O rapaz que estava de olho na boutique da visinha / Alipio Bispo dos Santos
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1976
			Uma explicação aos romeiros e a mudança das promessas / Minelvino Francisco da Silva O principe e a fada / Leandro Gomes de Barros
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1977
			Antonio Conseilhero: O santo guerriero de camudos / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante O barulho de lampião no Inferno / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante Eugenia Infante de Camara / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante A mulher que deu a luz uma cobra porque zombou do bom Jesus da lapa / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante História de Rosa de Milão / Teodoro Ferraz da Camara História do boi misterioso / Leandro Gomes de Barros
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1978
			Não é justo se prender um passarinho / Antonio Brito de Souza João Acaba-Mundo e a serpente negra / Minelvino Francisco da Silva A chegada de lampião no céu / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1979
			Lingua da mulher faladeira / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante História do Cel. Gavião é o escravo sofredor / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante Um samba de murros no jogo do Bahia com o Itabuna / Minelvino Francisco da Silva História de três cavalos encantados / Jose Camelo de Melo Rezende
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1980
			A revolta de mão branca e seu encontro com o bandido rifle certo / Minelvino Francisco da Silva O corre-corre de um barraqueiro / Antonio Silva Vilas Boas A Bahia a Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante / Hildemar de Araujo Costa
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1982
			Eu quero e ser madamo e casar com feminista / Franklin Maxado Nordestino
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1983
			Depoimento de um menor abandonado / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante O miniero que trocou a mulher por uma garrafa de aguardente "PRAIANINHA" / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante O vampiro - Lobisomem de Jacaraipa / Clério José Borges de Sant'Anna
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1984
			Esperanto: A lingua internacional que ajuda os povos, num laco de culturo e de fraternismo / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante Origem da literatura de cordel e a sua expressão de cultura nas letras de nosso pais / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1985
			Aparicio Fernandes - o grande edtor e poeta brasiliero - o antologista de século / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1986
			Otávio Mangabeira - O maior democratica que conheci / [no author given] Vida, luta e morte do trovador Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante / Jose Lara Honra e glória a Luís da Câmara Cascudo, o pai do folclore Brasiliero / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante O adeus a Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante / Rodolfo Cavalcante Filho
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1987
			O encontro de Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante com Castro Alves no céu / Isaias Moreira Cavalcante (ISMOCA) AIDS - a doença do século / Adolfo Moreira Cavalcante Recordacoes do meu pai: Rodolfo Cavalcante / Adolfo Moreira Cavalcante
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1988
			O centenário da abolição cem anos de liberdade / Adolfo Moreira Cavalcante
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1991
			ABC do grande cantor Roberto Carlos 50 anos de vida e de sucessos / Isaias Moreira Cavalcante (ISMOCA)
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1994
			Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante - O rei de cordel / Archibaldo Peçanha Martins
Box 1		Miscellaneous 1997
			Cem anos depois da guerra de Antonio Conseilhero / Leandro Tranquilino Pereira Os Hebreus na Palestina / Genário Barbosa de Oliveira
Box 1		Miscellaneous undated
			Simões Filho, sua gloriosa vida / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante A vida de um grande folclorista Brasiliero - João Chiarini / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante Cuica de Santo Amaro, o poeta popular que conheci / Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante A intriga do cachorro com o gato / José Pacheco Discussão de José Costa Leite com Apolonio Alves dos Santos / José Costa Leite O encontro de Teo Macedo com Maxado explicando as diferenças entre cordelista a cantador / José Francisco da Souza e Franklin Maxado Nordestino O homem que enganou o diabo/ [no author given]

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