Cultural mediation and the representation of the wife in the work of Patativa do Assaré

Abstract

This article investigates how the figure of the wife is represented in Cante lá que eu canto cá, by Patativa do Assaré, through the lens of cultural mediation. The general aim was to understand how the wife is portrayed in Patativa’s poetry and how this representation functions as a cultural mediating element within the Northeastern sertão context. The specific objectives were: a) to identify the representations related to the figure of the wife; b) to analyse and categorise these representations; and c) to understand how the relationship between cultural mediation and the wife’s representation is established within sertanejo culture and what this implies for gender roles. The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature and employed content analysis as its methodology, supported by bibliographical and documentary research. The analysis of fourteen poems led to the identification of two main categories: a) work – domestic, rural, and urban; and b) good or bad – value-based representation. The results indicate that the wife is predominantly depicted in passive roles, closely associated with the domestic sphere, thus reinforcing hegemonic gender representations. However, female characters who deviate from these stereotypes were also identified, acting as active agents. It is concluded that cultural mediation in Patativa’s work is intrinsically linked to the social constructions of gender and to patriarchal tradition, revealing the complexity of these representations within sertanejo culture.