The popular tradition of the Cordel literature: interview with Guaipuan Vieira

Abstract

This text presents an interview with the cordelista Guaipuan Vieira, performed via email on May 3rd, 2020. Vieira, who is cordel poet, woodcut maker and radio host, was born in Teresina-Piauí and since 1976 dedicates to the cordel literature. This author has published hundreds of cordel leaflets, also counting on several awards and highlights in the national and international press. This interview aims to highlight important point of the cordel productions of Vieira, and brings relevant information about his life, his work and his cultural engagement, besides presenting a brief discussion on the cordel as element of the northeastern culture, with its features and its values, the ones that Vieira strongly includes in several of his works. In theoretical aspect, it resorts to the ideas of Ferreira (2014), of Teyssier (2003), of Amaral (1976) and of Maior (1981). The methodology was by means of a structured interview with questions previously prepared, based on the guides of Marconi and Lakatos (2007) and of Gil (2011). As some results, it points out that Vieira, beyond of inserting himself in the beginnings of Cordel’s scene in Teresina-PI, he makes part of the Brazilian cordelistas’ group which keeps the tradition of approaching either different facts of everyday life or historical-cultural facts on their productions, as a guidance for the creating process.