En mi patria no hay justicia: Protest, identity and multi-vocality in the lives and music of Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa, and Susana Baca

Abstract

Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, there has been a strong connection between Latin American popular and folk music and socio-political protest and activism, of which women have been at the forefront. This project utilizes feminist music theory framework to investigate the messages, shifting identities, and significance of influential protest artists, Violeta Parra of Chile (1917–1967), Mercedes Sosa of Argentina (1935-2009), and Susana Baca of Peru (b.1944). Parra, Sosa, and Baca are presented individually as case studies, and a commonality is then drawn in regard to their varying connection to, and representation of, the Nueva Canción movement of Latin America. Selected works are contextualized the socio-political and biographical environments in which the artists’ wrote and performed, which exemplify the their voice, message, ideals, and identity. This study emphasizes the role and significance of three politically conscious female singers in order to gain better understand of the feminine voice of protest.