Volta Seca e as “Cantigas de Lampeão” : um olhar sergipano sobre o cangaço

Abstract

The period of cangaço in Brazil is one of the most revisited themes in the field of the history of the backlands. This movement permeates lifestyle, economy, culture and politics. Such relevance is due to the multiple possibilities of interpretations and approaches that arouse the curiosity of researchers. The period that marks the peak of cangaço resembles the time when Virgulino Ferreira, Lampião, commanded the gang through the backlands of the Northeast, including the backlands of Sergipe. Sergipe was one of the stages in which cangaço acted, leaving its marks on the land, whether of blood, desire or fear. Antônio dos Santos, “Volta Seca”, was one of those Sergipe natives who in some way were affected by this mark, not only as a contemporary at the time, but as a member of Lampião's gang and, according to periodicals, even his godson. What would have created this desire to join the cangaço is not well explained by the “volta seca” himself, however, its marks also remained even after the end of the cangaço in all its hegemony. The creation of the album “Cantigas de Lampeão” represents the preservation of the memory and the interpretation of the cangaço through the eyes of Antônio dos Santos. By bringing songs and games performed in the camp, it also configures an approximation of the listener with the peculiarities that existed in Lampião's band, in addition to reading, through a new source, about what we still do not know about this movement and the Sergipe people in the cangaço.