Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking, in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood leaving the printing parts level with the surface.
Many popular Brazilian woodcut artists, in particular those from the Northeast region of the country, are associated with cordel literature.
Cordel are popular and inexpensively printed booklets or pamphlets containing folk novels, poems, and songs. They are produced and sold in street markets and by street vendors.
They are so named because they are displayed to potential customers by being hung from strings (“cordas” in Portuguese).