Brazilian Folk-Popular Poetry: A Literatura De Cordel - Bilingual English & Portuguese Edition - Perfect for Literature Studies & Cultural Enthusiasts

This is a book of Brazilian poetry for the common man. 'Literatura de Cordel' means 'literature hung on a clothesline' because it was self-printed paperback booklets that were hung over rope or a clothesline and sold on the street. Each poem is printed in 2 columns with one column on each page being the English translation and one column being the Portuguese.There are 10 of these street poems, chosen by the translator and editor, Professor Mark Curran, to represent types of this folk poetry. "Debate of the Protestant Preacher with Master Vulture", a pro-catholic poem, "Money", an anti-rich foreigner poem, "The Girl who beat up Her Mother and Was Turned into a Dog", a folksy poem about problem-children, "Mariquinha and Jose de Sousa Leao", a romance where the hero steals away the rich man's daughter and forces them to accept him, "Sufferings of the Northeasterner Traveling to the South", poem of poor immigrants forced to head to the big city because of poverty and drought, "Poetic Duel between Patrick and Ignatius from Catingueira", street poets dueling with words, "Encounter of Tancredo with St. Peter in Heaven", a Brazilian political figure goes to Heaven away from the mess of Brazil politics, "End of the War and Death of Hitler and Mussolini", about WWII and Brazil's part on the allied side, "Debate between Lampiao and American Tourist", the American Tourist being Betty Friedan and this being a tongue-in-cheek encounter with a real man and how he would fix feminists, and last "Trip to St. Sarue", a poem about going to a perfect dreamland.All of these poems have a message or moral and most are humorous even as they teach. This book is great for someone who knows Portuguese but might not feel comfortable reading without a dictionary at hand. I found the translation to be superb. There are a few typos that can confuse the English reader since many Portuguese words had variations and you aren't quite sure if a word is mis-spelled or just a regional variant.There are explanatory introductions that add to the enjoyment of the poems. The vocabulary is fairly extensive and has regionalisms so I found it a learning experience to read these poems. Mostly, I just had fun reading them and found they took me back to another place and time. 4 stars.