Queering the Cordel: Trans Subjectivities in Brazilian Cordel Literature

• In Event: Becoming Brazilian: Migrant Cultures in Contemporary Brazil

Abstract

Originally sung as part of an oral tradition and later printed and published on inexpensive paper, cordéis have always been an affordable popular literary form accessible to rural and urban working-class communities. Also called folhetos, these booklets have recently made their way into other mediums such as online archives, videos, zines, and cyber communities. While traditional cordéis usually tell short stories that reiterate conventional morals and norms, this paper contributes to discussions of LGBT+ representation in Brazilian cultural production by highlighting the ways in which Northeastern cordel literature approaches queer and trans subjectivities.
With examples from a corpus of twenty LGBT+ cordéis I trace trans representation from the appearance of trans subjectivities in “Moralizing Cordéis” of the 1980s to the misgendering of trans-feminine subjects in contemporary “Gay Cordéis,” to their more recent appearance in activist and feminist cordéis. I argue that the use of the cordel to discuss contemporary themes of sexual health, sexuality, and gender identity indicates a paradigm shift which subverts regionalist stereotyping of the Northeast as a space rooted in nostalgia and tradition. It suggests that Northeastern culture is open and adaptable to changing social norms. Here the cordel has endured as an effective and relevant medium through which Northeasterners not only discuss their changing social realities but also generate new cultural paradigms accessible to a global audience.

Author

• Sarah E Nicholus, University of Texas at Austin