O “CORISCO PRETO”: CANGAÇO, RAÇA E BANDITISMO NO NORDESTE BRASILEIRO Translated title: THE “BLACK CORISCO”: CANGAÇO, RACE AND BANDITRY IN THE BRAZILIAN NORTHEASTERN REGION

Abstract

Resumo A finalidade deste artigo é reconstituir os fatos que levaram à prisão de Manoel Luiz de Jesus - um bandido negro que se identificava como Corisco Preto, do bando de Lampião -, no sertão nordestino, em 1931, para daí discutir os relatórios e pareceres produzidos sobre ele pelo sistema penitenciário de Sergipe, especialmente pelo Gabinete de Biologia Criminal, responsável por periciar o grau de degenerescência do delinquente. Para além de desvelar aspectos da trajetória de Manoel Luiz, a proposta é surpreender, a partir desse personagem, as conexões sinuosas entre cangaço, raça e banditismo à luz da medicina legal.

Translated abstract

Abstract The aim of this article is to list the factors that took Manoel Luiz de Jesus to prison in 1931, in the backwoods of the Northeast region of Brazil. He was a black criminal, identified as Black Corisco, from Lampião’s gang. The article also discusses the reports and opinions written about him by professionals of the prison system in Sergipe, mainly from those in the Criminal Biology Bureau, which was responsible for examining the criminal’s degree of degeneracy. Despite revealing the aspects of Manoel Luiz’s trajectory, this article also aims at surprising because of his character and of the sinuous connections among cangaço, race and banditry in light of forensic medicine.