21st CENTURY “SEVERINOS”: LITERARY LITERACY FROM JOÃO CABRAL ANDEMICIDA

Abstract

The primary goal of working with literature in Middle School is to develop a
sense of intimacy between students and literary texts. The learning process is not limited
to developing reading comprehension; it should also open the possibility of engaging
with global issues in a dialectical way. From this starting point, eighth graders studied
Life and Death of Severino by João Cabral de Melo Neto, published by Cia das Letras
in a version adapted and illustrated by Odyr. During the same period, students studied
rap as a genre, expanding their repertoire with works by artists such as Emicida, Negra
Li, and Criolo, among others. Recognizing the genre's power for denouncing social
injustices, the students were challenged to write a rap on the theme of “21st-century
Severinos,” honoring João Cabral de Melo Neto. To accomplish this, the “young
rappers” were tasked with composing a polyphonic text that established intertextuality
between their rap and Life and Death of Severino. Through a contemporary lyrical
voice, the work incorporates echoes of João Cabral, Odyr, and Emicida. The creative
experience of composing a rap alongside studying the poem enabled students to
perceive the powerful meaning within the author's poetic expression and the continued
relevance of the literary work’s themes. By expressing the injustices experienced by the
displaced people of our time in a polyphonic form, and by aligning João Cabral’s Severino as a brother to them, the students were able not only to understand the work
but to experience it intimately.