This essay, “Cordel - A Novelística Nordestina” by Geová Sobreira, suggests that literatura de cordel—the genre of published writing known as “string literature”—is an expression of an intrinsically novelistic tradition. It is a collective creative act that, like the cowhide version, transforms itself over a period of time, as in the case of Lampião, the bandit who appears in successive episodes until his death and descent to hell. In northeastern Brazil string literature is seen as an ongoing narrative about life in that part of the country. In the 1950s it was able to engage in a dialogue with other fields such as television and academic research. The author of this essay, Sobreira, mentions the expressive language used by Antonio Gonçalvez da Silva (Patativa Assaré) and the increasingly widespread production of prints from wooden blocks, a very important factor in the process. Sobreira notes the contributions made by Mestre Noza, by Manoel Lopes dos Santos (Manoel Santeiro) and, of course, the São Francisco typography. Ironically enough, it was at this time that “the fantastic aspect of the Brazilian interior” became apparent.

Two essays were published in the illustrated book Xilógrafos de Juazeiro, the “Introdução” by Eduardo Diatahy and this essay, “Cordel - A Novelística Nordestina” by Geová Sobreira. Both of them help, to some extent, to compensate for the absence of critical and interpretive articles about wooden printing blocks and literatura de cordel [string literature]. The authors of these essays continue to adapt this form of expression that still exists in the northeastern part of Brazil, the sertão region. They pay great attention to the city of Juazeiro do Norte, the major printing and publication center in this field.   

In the 1920s and 1930s Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (1897–1938), alias Lampião, was the leader of a gang of rural bandits known as cangaceiros [yokes] because they were country boys. They held up ranches and stole food, tools, and even cattle which they then distributed among the poor, a la Robin Hood. After they were caught their throats were slit and their remains languished at the morgue for decades. It was not until 1969 that their families were legally entitled to remove them and bury them elsewhere. The gang’s activities resonated with people living in the poorest parts of Brazil where, to this day, its members are remembered and depicted in myriad ways.