CHAPTER 1
Con Fuerza, Violeta Parra: The Artist
and Her Legacy
Patricia Vilches
Abstract This essay introduces the volume Mapping Violeta Parra’s Cul-
tural Landscapes, which explores the legacy and artistic corpus of Violeta
Parra. During her meandering life, the artist compiled and pursued a
multidimensional craft. She was a singer-songwriter, visual artist, poet,
and political activist, among many other things. Contributors analyze
Parra from interdisciplinary angles that include history, music, film studies,
literary studies, and visual arts, with a view toward casting an innovative
light on her multifaceted career. Although there were other well-known
compilers, Parra broke new ground. She expressed the trends of the rural in
the urban and vice versa and returned to the countryside melodies that, as
her career evolved, she imbued with socio-political awareness.
Keywords Violeta Parra • Folklore • Chilean popular music • Cultural
maps • Legacy
P. Vilches (*)
Harlaxton College, Harlaxton, Lincolnshire, UK
1 © The Author(s) 2018
P. Vilches (ed.), Mapping Violeta Parra’s Cultural Landscapes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69302-6_1