ALUSÃO, SEDUÇÃO E MENTALIDADE NUM CORDEL CANTADO DE OTACÍLIO BATISTA

Abstract

Abstract: Through the poem “Young, pretty and sweet woman”, written by Otacílio Batista, which was set to music by the songwriter and singer Zé Ramalho, we study the concepts of allusion, seduction and mentality. These concepts are present in this poem/song, research subject of our work. The current study focuses on historical and mythological characters of Ancient Greece as well as figures from the recent history of Northeast Brazil, as Lampião and Maria Bonita. Furthermore, we study some female representations that the Batista’s poem allow us to analyze, focusing on the seduction that women exert over men, inside a context of Christian mentality that involves male authorship of Cordel Literature from Northeast Brazil. Although some of its lines insist on bringing up some traces of a patriarchal mentality, which is implicated in female representation transposed into literature by the male imaginary, we believe that we can demonstrate that the female seduction manifested by the characters of the poem leads readers to a female empowerment perception.