Violeta Parra

Lorna Dillon (University of Kent at Canterbury)

Ed. by Cara Levey, University College Cork
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 5.1.1: Hispanic Writing and Culture of South America.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Ben Bollig (University of Oxford), Ceire Broderick (University College Cork), Nuala Finnegan (University College Cork), Anna Forné (Gothenburg University), Cara Levey (University College Cork), Carolina Orloff (Independent Scholar - Europe), Lori Oxford (Western Carolina University), Ailsa Peate (University of Westminster)

Dates

Born 4 Oct 1917
Died 5 Feb 1967

Places

Born in Chile
Active in Chile

Activities

Primary

Song-writer

Other

Composer

Resources

Parra's Works

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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 also music by the artists who played in the cultural…

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3103 words

Citation: Dillon, Lorna. "Violeta Parra". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 March 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13473, accessed 23 November 2024.]