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Antônio Teodoro dos Santos
In this excerpt from Antonio Teodoro dos Santos’s O encontro de Lampião com Dioguinho, we witness the fictional meeting of two of Brazil’s most famous outlaws. Diogo “Dioguinho” da Rocha Figueira (1863-1897) was a criminal and assassin in São Paulo state whose disappearance following a shootout with authorities recast him as a local myth and folk hero. Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (1898?-1938), best known by his nom de guerre Lampião, was the most feared of the bandits (cangaceiros) that roamed the Northeastern backlands in the early twentieth century. Their encounter ranges from the excitement of a knife fight to the brotherhood of shared churrasco (barbeque), while the dialogue explores themes of region, race, masculinity, and popular religiosity.