The bitter verses of Cora Coralina

Figurations of the “child” and the “minor” between poetry and the Military Dictatorship in Brazil

Abstract

Following the coup d'état in April 1964, the military government launched the National Policy for the Welfare of Minors (PNBEM) on December 1st, encompassing external concepts and proposals for the poor child and youth segment. This text, however, begins with an external critique of this institutional framework through the work of the poet Cora Coralina (1889-1985) from Goiás, who advocated for the rights of children and youth during the military dictatorship. Based on the concept of "sharing the sensible," proposed by French philosopher Jacques Rancière, and Michel Foucault's discourse analysis methodology, the article draws on a literary archive and questions: how did Cora Coralina's poetry dispute meanings about marginalized minors in the public arena? Three conclusive aspects are articulated: a) the emergence of sensitive social issues such as the marginalization of children appeared more incisively in Cora Coralina's poetry in the 1970s; b) the use of poetic language was a strategy to raise awareness about human rights and was approved for the epistolary activity through which he sought to communicate, demand measures and convince public authorities and intellectuals about the country's problems; c) his poetry sought to influence public debate and participated in the dispute over national problems such as marginalized and minoritized children.