Musicalidade e cordel: valorações de estudantes e diálogos interdisciplinares na escola

Abstract

School practices often employ cordel literature as a pedagogical resource, yet its musicality—particularly rhythm, meter, and oral performance—remains underexplored as an interdisciplinary element within classroom contexts. This study addresses this gap by investigating, from the students’ value-laden perspectives, how the musicality of cordel contributes to learning, performance, and meaning-making in high school. Conducted as a qualitative case study, the research involved 74 second-year students from the Raimundo Célio Rodrigues State School of Professional Education, in Pacatuba. Data were produced through interdisciplinary workshops integrating literature, music, and performance, as well as through interviews, reflective questionnaires, participant observations, and audio recordings. Content analysis, articulated with valuation theory, enabled the interpretation of the expressive, affective, and identity-related meanings attributed by students to the musicality of cordel. The findings revealed that rhythm, meter, and rhyme facilitate textual comprehension, enhance engagement, and support vocal and bodily expressiveness during activities. The results also showed that cordel is recognized as a manifestation of Northeastern Brazilian culture, strengthening students’ sense of pride, belonging, and cultural identity. The workshops were perceived as spaces of discovery, as they integrated body, voice, and rhythm into meaningful poetic-performative experiences. The study concludes that the musicality of cordel functions as a mediator of learning and identity processes, offering theoretical-methodological insights for interdisciplinary practices that value orality, corporeality, and popular culture in high school education.