Papel volante is a Portuguese name that designates a form of popular literature that may include

popular prints Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the tot ...

. They date from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, and are usually in an eight-page

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

format. They were at their height in the eighteenth century. They are similar to the

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

of colportage, English

chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

s or to the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

''pliegos'', ''papeles volantes'' or ''hojas volanderas''. They are also known as '' literatura de cordel'' (string literature), particularly in the northeast of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Two of the most famous authors of ''papéis volantes'' are Baltasar Dias (17th century) and

José Daniel Rodrigues da Costa José Daniel Rodrigues da Costa (31 October 1757–7 October 1832) was a Portuguese poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the c ...

(18th century), who wrote misogynous texts. Baltasar Dias's ''Malícia das Mulheres'' (Malice of Women) had more than eighteen editions from 1640 until the twentieth century.

External links

Baltasar Dias's "Marquês de Mântua" facsimile (Portuguese National Library)

Portuguese literature {{Portugal-hist-stub