Brazilian Cordel is the Northeast Brazilian woodcut-illustrated chapbook tradition — small folded paper pamphlets of narrative ballads, religious tales, and satirical verse, hung from string ("cordel") at marketplace stalls. Each cover bears a bold black-and-white woodcut of cangaceiro outlaws, sertão landscapes, or saints.

The aesthetic is strict two-tone: lampblack ink on cream newsprint, with the rarest rust-red accent. It is populist-cheap printing by definition — chunky hand-cut woodblock lines, Garamond serifs, folded paper edges. UNESCO recognized it as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018.