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Violeta Parra: By the Whim of the Wind Reviewed By Lois Henderson of Bookpleasures.com
- By Lois C. Henderson
- Published November 3, 2010
- Biographies & Memoirs
Lois C. Henderson
Reviewer Lois C. Henderson: Lois is a freelance academic editor and back-of-book indexer, who spends most of her free time compiling word search puzzles for tourism and educative purposes. Her puzzles are available HERE and HERE Her Twitter account (@LoisCHenderson) mainly focusses on the toponymy of British place names. Please feel welcome to contact her with any feedback at LoisCourtenayHenderson@gmail.com.
Author:
Karen Kerschen
Publisher: ABQ Press
ISBN: 978-0-9843024-1-3
Click Here To Purchase VIOLETA PARRA: BY THE WHIM OF THE WIND
This
unauthorized biography of the life and art of the notable Chilean
folklorist and visual artist, Violeta Parra, provides valuable
insights into the emotionally troubled existence of one of the most
gifted South Americans of the past century. The book traces her life
from when she was born in the small town of San Carlos in the
province of ñuble in southern Chile through her growing up in
poverty, discusses her somewhat checkered rise to fame, and ends with
her suicide at the age of 49 in February 1967. A political activist,
Parra was involved in the progressive movement and the Socialist
Party of Chile. Despite being courted by the academic establishment
at various stages in her career, she was also disparaged by the
politically and socially elite, from whom she all too often alienated
herself.
Parra’s distinctive voice and concern with
wishing to immortalize the cultural heritage of the often landless
Chilean peasantry ensured her a unique place in the history of her
nation. Despite some fraternization with North American beat poets
Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and the exhibition of her
art at the Louvre (with Parra being the first Latin American to have
a solo exhibit at the august establishment), her primary commitment
lay in the upliftment of her own people and in the creation of a
folkloric vision. In fact, this is what first drew Karen Kerschen to
write about her. As Kerschen says, “I discovered that Violeta’s
story far exceeded her legend.” In addition to recording the
traditional customs of her native countrymen for posterity, for which
purpose she travelled extensively throughout her country to gain
first-hand access to primary sources of such culture, Parra also
eloquently described the suffering of the urban poor. Her lack of
formal schooling and training in no way hindered her transposing the
truth of what she found into both aural and visual evidence of the
experiences of the poorest of the poor—proof that financial
impoverishment does not rob the people of their soul.
Kerschen’s
biography is a modest and unassuming tale of a woman whose
achievements have been all too little written about so far. The
intertwining of Parra’s personal and social history with the
evolution of her music and art is told in intimate detail, leaving
none of the more negative aspects of the artist out, and certainly
she was a most troubled and, at times, pugnacious person. However,
that her story deserves to be told is a certainty, with Kerschen’s
telling of it coming none too soon. For anyone interested in the role
of women in the evolution of society and art, Violeta Parra: By the
Whim of the Wind is a worthwhile investment.
Click Here To Purchase VIOLETA PARRA: BY THE WHIM OF THE WIND