Adventures of a “Gringo” Researcher in Brazil in the 1960'S: Or: in Search of “Cordel”

Mark J. Curran

Oct 2012 · Trafford Publishing

About this ebook

Adventures of a Gringo Researcher in Brazil in the 1960s or In Search of Cordel is an entertaining and informative account of Professor Currans first foray in Brazil. In this book he tells two stories: the research to collect cordel and, perhaps more importantly, the travel and the adventures of the year in Brazil. The two are inseparable and complement each other. Chapters include Recife and the Northeast, Travels to the interior of the Northeast, research in Brazils colonial capital of Salvador da Bahia, research and tourism in Rio de Janeiro, trips to the interior of Rio, including Ouro Preto, Congonhas do Campo, and a memorable trip on a wood-burning stern wheeler on the Sao Francisco River in Minas Gerais and Bahia, and finally, research in the Amazon Basin, including both Belem do Para and Manaus. The account is not in academic language but in a colloquial, conversational style. Curran writes as one sitting down with the reader and telling tales of his travels, and perhaps with the author and reader enjoying a caipirinha, or a Brazilian draft beer choppe as they talk.

About the author

Mark J. Curran is a retired professor from Arizona State University, where he worked for forty-three years teaching Spanish and Portuguese languages and their respective cultures. He is an authority on Brazil’s folk and popular Literature, “A Literatura de Cordel,” and has published nine books on the subject.