Violeta Parra (b. 1917 d. 1967) is an icon of Chilean culture. A protest singer, performer, visual artist and poet, she made a prolific contribution to a number of genres. Parra began her career as a musician: an ethnomusicologist, singer, songwriter and composer. One of Latin America’s best known singers, she brought socially-engaged Chilean folk songs from rural areas to a wider audience. As Victor Jara explained, Parra’s songs were adopted by the demographic groups that inspired them: “Parra’s songs are sung by the workers and miners as if they were their own songs. Her music has become their folklore” (Parra, I. 1985, 146). She released ten LPs during her lifetime, mostly of her own music and traditional Chilean songs, but …
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Citation: Dillon, Lorna. "Violeta Parra". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 March 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13473, accessed 27 November 2024.]
