History

This chapter examines Violeta Parra’s contribution to the Chilean folk revival of the 1950s. She practiced her vocation according to the dual meaning of the Spanish term folclorista: as someone who collects folk songs (folklorist) and as someone who performs them (folk singer). She and her cohort of folcloristas undertook their project of folk revival propelled by a staunch cultural nationalism and a sense of urgency; they firmly believed that there existed a “true” and untouched Chilean folklore awaiting their discovery and that such folklore was under attack on all fronts. In their interlocking practice of definition and defense of Chilean traditions, they contributed to the ideological struggle over what it meant to be Chilean in their times.

Violeta Parra (1917–1967) was a multifaceted and talented musician and artist. A prolific songwriter, she composed more than two hundred songs as well as experimental pieces for guitar, documentary soundtracks, and music for ballet. Her most famous song, “Gracias a la vida,” has been performed by musicians the world over. In the realm of the visual arts, she was a ceramicist, sculptress, painter, and tapestry maker. In 1964, she became the first Latin American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre Palace’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Parra was also an award-winning folklorist who collected hundreds of songs and other folklore from every region of Chile. Born in southern Chile, she moved to Santiago at age fifteen, where she spent two decades performing a mixture of popular songs from Latin America that is often referred to as música criolla. At age thirty-five she turned to the authentic, first as a folklorist and then as an artist. She was a leader of the Chilean folk reviv...