Bullets, Bandits, & Beauty: The Poetic Legacy of Lampião, Brazil’s Most Fearsome Outlaw

Brazil is no stranger to being at or near the center of the world’s stage. Few people outside the country, however, would recognize the name of one of the country’s most notorious figures, the bandit Lampião, whose quick trigger, combined with the muzzle flash of a firearm, could light up the night like a lamp. For some, he represents a Robin Hood figure who fought against injustice, while for others he is but a bloodthirsty murderer. Lampião’s legacy, however, belongs not to academics or internet comments sections but instead has been forged in the popular poetry chapbooks of the literatura de cordel, which immortalized and rewrote his legacy in verse. This presentation will argue that representations of Lampião in the cordel constitute a subversive refashioning of the bandit’s legacy that transformed official narratives about him and ultimately elevated him to the status of myth, idealizing him as a bandit figure, as an exemplary sertanejo or dweller of the Brazilian backlands region, and finally as a defender of Brazilian national identity