Violeta Parra

Abstract

Includes bibliographical references (pages [24]-25)This thesis studies the work of folklorist Violeta Parra that spans the years 1957 to 1967 in the context of class struggle in Chile. It is in this period that Violeta Parra's songs acquire an unmistakable political message that reflects, and, at the same time, stimulates an intensification of class struggle and an option for socialism on the part of the Chilean people. This study proposes that the Chilean folklore rescued by Violeta Parra makes use of a popular language inherited from Spain, as it does a medieval philosophy that privileges a dichotomous conceptualization that reflects feudal socio-economic conditions. It is proposed, therefore, that, as an organic intellectual of the Chilean peasant class, Violeta Parra creates from the Chilean folklore an agitational song that exposes feudal, colonial, and capitalist oppression through a progressively more antagonistic language. It is also proposed that while connecting the Chilean popular tradition to the new song represented by folklorists such as Victor Jara, she creates the conditions for a folklore with an ideological message and a rupturist language that sharpen class contradictions in Chile and help polarize Chilean society.M.A. (Master of Arts