A blooming stone in regionalism: reading "O sertanejo falando", by João Cabral de Melo Neto

Abstract

This article is a close reading of the poem “O sertanejo falando” by João Cabral de Melo Neto, published in A educação pela pedra (1966). The poem is understood as a paradigm of the ways in which the sertanejo's mode of enunciation is represented within the modern tradition of regionalist literature: sometimes the speech is sweetened and “sweet” - as in the style of Guimarães Rosa - and sometimes it is rough and bumpy - as in Graciliano Ramos' Vidas Secas (1937). In this poem, João Cabral creates a synthesis of these instances - between heaven and hell, in the terms of Alfredo Bosi - as well as unfolding themes dear to his own poetics. In this sense, the poem can be seen as an outpost of Cabral's poetics to the extent that it establishes fruitful dialogues with the modern tradition of Brazilian regionalism.