Folkcomunicação e desenvolvimento local: o cordel como veículo de comunicação e mobilização popular na cidade de Caruaru

Abstract

The region called Agreste, in Northeastern Brazil, where the city of Caruaru is located, due to recent changes in its economic strucutre towards industrialization, specifically in the textile sector, moving away from its agricultural past. We analyze the situation of twine literature, a popular literary genre, as a channel for local development, one that reflects the economic, social and political changes originating of such a transformation, with special focus on the preservation of popular culture in face of the media homogenization tolled by globalization. The main objective is to discuss how the administrative and political powers and local media have subsidized the diffusion of twine literature, researching also if there is a harmonic relationship between constituted powers, and other civil associations dedicated to culture and literary promotion. Through an analysis of spoken, press and television media, we try to identify the main hurdles in such an association, striving to find a viable relationship between popular culture and folkmedia. Our work also characterizes twine literature, offering the conditions to examine the deadlocks that make inviable the diffusion of twine literature in a globalized world and to establish contact points between popular culture, folklore and the consume market. As a theoretical basis we use fundamental authors of the Folkcommunication Theory such as Beltrão, Benjamin and Luyten, asides of Jara, Jesus, Tauk Santos and Brás Callou in relationship with the local development concept. The methods used comprised qualitative analysis with open interview with Caruaru’s artists and their works.