Introduction

Summary

Mis trabajos son una verdad simple y alegre dentro de la tristeza que hay en cada uno de ellos. Yo soy un pajarito que puedo subirme en el hombro de cada ser humano, y cantarle y trinarle con las alitas abiertas, cerca muy cerca de su alma.

Violeta Parra

(My works contain a simple and happy truth within the sadness in each one of them. I am a little bird who can land on the shoulders of each human being. I can sing and chirp to them with open wings, close, very close to their soul.)

The Chilean artist Violeta Parra (1917–67) is renowned for her contribution to Latin American letters; her protest songs are championed and her poetry is a fixture of the Spanish American canon. All artists are united by their creativity, yet each artist works from a unique philosophical perspective. In the quotation above, taken from a letter that she wrote to her partner, Gilbert Favre, Parra conveys the spirit and intention of her creative endeavour. Violeta Parra describes her creativity as a form of generosity, a way of uplifting her spectators and touching their souls. The letter, one of the few records in which Parra reflects upon her own artistic practice, communicates her vision with great clarity. What she makes clear is the impact that she hopes it will have on the individual. Alongside this desire to provide a positive experience for the audience, there is an activism and a simple yet deep philosophical heart at the centre of all of Parra's work. Multiple meanings converge in her unique poetic, a fusion of Chile's strong heritage of popular poetry, and of artistic currents that were extremely modern.

Parra carried out research into Chilean traditions and developed her own creative practice in a variety of media. As a creator, the range of artistic genres she explored make her work particularly interesting. Many people know her as the singer of the song ‘Casamiento de negros’ (Negro wedding), or as the progenitor of the Chilean New Song movement. In the decades following her death, her music was to be championed by people all over the world, who linked Parra's broad, left-wing ethos to their own ideological and political struggles. Others recognise her poetry as the most perfect example of the décima form in Chilean literature.