AT THE EDGE OF MODERNITY: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ‘DÉCIMAS’ OF VIOLETA PARRA AS LITERATURE

Abstract

Violeta Parra’s life and work have been the object of countless studies highlighting the artist’s identifi cation with popular social classes. Apart from a few exceptions, the critics consider her compositions and writings as an authentic popular expression, without noticing their aesthetic intention. Parra’s autobiographical décimas have undergone a similar process. The scholarly analysis of the décimas has mainly focus on the social theme and on the author’s diaphanous identifi cation with common people. This paper attempts to demonstrate that — in spite of what has been said about the transparent quality of the mimesis in selfrepresentation — the Décimas of Violeta Parra are a literary text and, as such, resort to form, rhetorical resources, style and to other literary techniques in order to achieve a pre-determined goal.