Por uma história do livro e da leitura no Pará: o caso da Guajarina, editora de folhetos de cordel (1922-1949)

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the role played by the publishing house Guajarina in the dissemination of a kind of popular literature known as “cordel”, in the state of Pará, Brazil, between 1922 and 1949, from the viewpoint of a history of books and reading. Thus, it examines the cordel beyond the texts, focusing on issues such as the association between cordel, popular culture and folklore; the production and circulation of booklets, and the representations and strategies of poets when writing about crime stories. The analysis of Guajarina and its booklets allows us to understand some of the many meanings of reading practices of society in the first half of the twentieth century. Newspapers, magazines and bound collections of folk songs were also used as sources for this research.