DE “COITEIRA” A “CANGACEIRA”

O RECHAÇO AO NORDESTE BRASILEIRO REPRESENTADO POR DUAS PERSONAGENS FEMININAS DE RACHEL DE QUEIROZ

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze how cangaço plays a determining role in the narrative axis in Dôra, Doralina, by Rachel de Queiroz, and how we also find it in Memorial de Maria Moura, by the same author. Cangaço, considered as a social banditry, occurred in the Northeastern Brazilian hinterlands between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, had Lampião as its main figure. In Dôra, Doralina, the traces of cangaço are striking, especially in Belmiro, a gunman and a fugitive who, when appearing shot and delirious at Soledade Farm, starts counting on the support of Maria das Dores, the narrator, protagonist and heiress of Soledade. In Memorial de Maria Moura, the protagonist joins banditry to survive a patriarchal and conservative universe. The events that involve her are decisive for her, previously an unprotected girl, to become the leader of a band of jagunços (gunmen). Comparing the works, it is possible to infer that Moura was included in cangaço due to manifest social injustices in the feminine context at the time in this region, while with Belmiro, the lack of perspectives is the preponderant reason. Starting from the relationship between Literature and society, we noticed how Rachel de Queiroz uses her memories of cangaço, a social condition that was part of her time and space, to fictionalize.