A terra do sangue: o ciclo do cangaço na sétima arte e na literatura de José Lins do Rego

Abstract

Considering that many cinematographic and literary works have dedicated their scripts and narratives to cangaço, this work seeks to research the theme of cangaço present in the seventh art and in the literature of José Lins do Rego, in order to observe and describe how the stories and marks left by this movement are represented in national literature and cinema, with a greater focus on the former, paying special attention to the books Pedra Bonita (1938) and Cangaceiros (1956) that make up the cangaço cycle in the work of the novelist José Lins do Rego. Cangaço was a movement of insurgents from the northeastern backlands, rebelling against local injustices and oppressions that left its mark on the history of Brazil, whether through acts of violence, narrated in storytelling, oscillating between the profile of hero and bandit, or through their unique attire. Therefore, we became interested in analyzing how the cangaceiros and the cangaço itself are reproduced in the aforementioned artistic expressions, thus analyzing how myths, stereotypes and historical veracity appear and mix in the productions, taking into account the social and cultural context. To this end, it is necessary to investigate how the geographic space shapes the experiences of the characters, influencing their decisions about their destiny, observe how the figure of the cangaceiros is characterized in the works Pedra Bonita and Cangaceiros, and analyze how the author, through historical rescue, uses art to make a social denunciation. For our analysis, we based ourselves on works dedicated to the theme of cangaço and the marks left by the movement, such as the female presence in the gang and the innovation of a cangaceiro aesthetic, as well as on works on cangaço in literature and cinema, such as Freitas (2005), Bosi (2012), Macêdo (2014), Iokoi (2015), Alves (2017), Clemente (2020), Chaves (2018, 2021), Alves (2021), Moraes, Pordeus the Silva (2022), Silva (2022) among others that helped us understand cangaço and its representation. In light of the research, it is clear that in the works the geographical space marked by climatic and governmental conditions influences the fate of the characters, who seek solutions to their problems in cangaço, or even in messianic movements, since they do not receive assistance from the State, which leads to the conclusion that both in films and in books the narratives, more than telling stories, denounce the negligence and oppression faced by the people of the backlands in the 19th and 20th centuries.