"Projeto Brasil", de Stella Leonardos: o épico na forma de cancioneiro, romanceiro e rapsódia

Abstract

The proposed research aims to perform an analysis of the works Romanceiro do Bequimão (1979), Rapsódia Sergipana (1995) and Cancioneiro Capixaba (2000), which are part of Stella Leonardos' “Brazil Project”. This project was born from the author's intention to portray Brazil, with all its historical, mythical and cultural diversity, through long poems, whose epicity is visible. To fulfill the objective, the analyzes were based on the discussions about Epic Literature and its permanence in the 21st century, highlighting the view of the Brazilian people themselves as hero of their time, knowing, among others, to circumvent the existing adversities within a capitalist society that does not appreciate the populace as it should. The works of Leonardos and his “Project Brazil” are, therefore, productions of great value for the reaffirmation of national identity and for the deconstruction of an epic tradition that so often understood heroism as an attribute restricted to the privileged portions of societies pictured. It is known that Brazil presents, in its historical formation and its development over time, power struggles that consolidate a troubled political and social scenario, and, in this sense, the study of the epic reinforces the need to keep alive the playfulness, especially these days. It is noteworthy that the methodological procedures adopted in the research were quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative part comes in the form of a picture, which objectively brings data that contribute to a greater structural understanding of the works; the qualitative look turns to the analyses of the rhapsody, songbook and romance genres and their relationship with the literary epic. As theoretical contribution, in turn, the contributions of Silva and Ramalho (2007, 2013, 2015) and Neiva (2009) are used for the study of the epic; For the study of genres, we resorted to Moses (1974) and Chamie (1970), who discuss rhapsodic writing; Pidal (1973), Ferré (2008) and Salgueiro (1997), who write about the noveleiro; and Alencar (1994), who studies the songbook. It is hoped, with this study, to contribute to the critical fortune of the epic genre, especially regarding the adequacy of the epics of the twentieth century, the language and the reality of its time. It also aims to contribute to the collection of academic studies focused on immaterial values of the Brazilian regions, which hold historical and cultural riches that still need to be unveiled.