Throughout social movements, music has often been a catalyst for social change. Music has the capacity to bring people together and create a collective identity; it has the ability to open peoples’ eyes to injustice and suffering, and to motivate people to change and act against social norms. With these abilities, political music typically surfaces during times of oppression, which was the case in Chile during the 1970’s and 80’s. Artists such as Victor Jara and Violeta Parra used their music as an outlet to oppose the military government, and as a result many of their songs became personal anthems of those suffering injustice. In her song La Carta (The Letter), Violeta Parra makes several political criticisms, commenting on the wrongdoings of the church, the militia, and the government. Parra makes political statements as well as condemns the economic state of Chile. Her songs are representative of most Nueva Canción music. The music is a mixture of political and economic criticism intent on alerting the audience to the failures of the Chilean government and inciting change. Nueva Canción artists used the strong diagnoses and emotional appeal of their songs to make their listeners, both within Chile and abroad, aware of the oppression occurring in Chile.
Violeta Parra’s La Carta is a testimony of grievances against the authoritative powers in Chile. Presented from the prospective of the sister of an imprisoned person, the speaker is enraged against the government that has incarcerated her brother. The song condemns the government, and its actions against the people. This denunciation of the government embodies the problems present in Chile and is the most present framing technique in the song.
The elements of the diagnosis imply that a source of blame is identified in the song, as well as the predicament of the speaker. In the song the sources of the oppression are the church and military government. The speaker says, “The hungry ask for bread, the militia gives them bullets. In this arrogant manner they want to preserve their position…without deserving them,” the narrator also says of the church, “They [priests] come and go from church and forget the commandments. We’ve seen insolence, barbarity and treachery”. Here the song identifies the authoritative powers in Chile as corrupt and insolent. The government officials are able to act as they please with little regard to the needs of the Chilean people or to morality, represented by the commandments. It is because of the corruption of the people in power, who are supposed to maintain the well-being of the country, that such oppression occurs. Parra implies that if the government can perform such atrocities then, “there is no justice”. This condemnation of the powers-that-be is used as a method to relate the plight of oppressed Chileans to the world.
During the regime many artists were driven into exile by the government’s extreme censorship. These artists frequently traveled to Europe, the United States, and other South American countries, singing their songs and promoting awareness of their government’s atrocities. In Parra’s song this promotion is quite obvious because she blatantly condemns the people in charge of her country. This disapproval is present when she states that they hold office “without deserving them” and that “there is no justice” when the militia kills people “who have no defense”. Her straightforward manner is characteristic of many Nueva Canción songs and is an attribute that makes the diagnosis the strongest and most effective framing technique.
In addition to directly reprimanding the authorities, La Carta uses graphic descriptions of cruelty as a means to open the eyes of an unaware audience. The speaker depicts how “they dragged him through the street…without compassion, with shackles”. She testifies that the barbarian military “brings out shotguns and kills in cold blood those who have no defense.” By painting a picture of innocent people, unable to fight back against the “bloodthirsty Lion” the song becomes one of deep emotion and empathy. Not only does Parra create a vicious dictating Lion, a common symbol of ferocious power, but she creates innocent victims, powerless, like lambs, against their government. In using intense symbolism and striking descriptions Parra makes the problems of the song seem all the more severe and pertinent, which incites the people to unite against her terrible enemy. Whether her audience was previously aware of the crisis or not, she inspires them to act against the crimes of her government and achieve justice for her people.
Using similar techniques to that of the diagnosis, Parra also creates a similar empathetic motivation to prompt her audience to act. In the song the victim is not a stranger to the speaker; he is her brother and thus there is compassion in the speaker’s narrative. Since the victim is family, an emotional response is elicited out of the audience. They are meant to fear such an event in their own families and thus relate to the narrator’s emotions. Parra uses this emotional connection, and the fear present in the diagnosis as her motivation, with the intent that people’s empathy is a strong enough force to make them act out against injustice.
The prognosis, as compared to the diagnosis and motivation, is relatively weak in La Carta. Parra presents no clear cut solution in her song; she does not ask for money, or military assistance, she simply states that “By luck I have a guitar to weep my sorrow.” The speaker’s complete lack of a solution only enhances her helplessness. The weak prognosis completes the picture of a victimized country. Not only do Chile’s citizens have an oppressive violent government, they have no means to avenge themselves and bring about justice. Parra uses the lack of prognosis in hopes that the people she is intending to incite invent their own solutions and perhaps be motivated to act.
Violeta Parra’s La Carta uses an emotional appeal in an attempt to engage her listeners, and incite them to act and assist her oppressed country. By making her song a testimony of the injustice occurring in Chile, she focuses on the diagnosis of the situation. Parra intentionally uses a strong diagnosis with a weaker motivation and prognosis to highlight the troubles of Chilean citizens. She makes herself, and her song, a messenger for the oppressed Chileans unable to speak for themselves, in hopes to alert the both ignorant Chileans and the world to the social turmoil of Chile during the military regime.