Evas ou Marias? As mulheres na literatura de cordel: preconceitos e estereótipos

Abstract

This article aims at establishing the many ways women appear in the imaginary of Brazilian Northeast cordel poets at the first half of the 20th century, and which role they played in that society. It is possible to recognize, through leaflets, not only the re-creation of anti-heroic images of ill-bred and false women, but women of pure and good conduct as well, who were compared, in terms of identification, to Eve or Virgin Mary respectively. In this sense, one can clearly notice the presence of a misogynistic culture, which underlies the female representations through different languages in diversified social levels.