When I [Gina Canepa] began collecting materials to formulate my dissertation on Violeta Parra in 1983 at the Freie Universität Berlin in former West Berlin, I had difficulty persuading my professor to consent to this topic. At the time, Parra's work was not yet a scholarly subject. There had been some analysis of her music and poetry but her work was not truly valued. Indeed, there is still some way to go before Parra receives the recognition she deserves. However, in the last few decades Parra's oeuvre has been studied extensively; it has made its way on to university syllabuses and become part of the Latin American canon. Patricio Manns and Leónidas Morales, whose work is presented in the first two chapters of this book, were early pioneers in the field. Manns published his study of Parra's music Violeta Parra, la guitare indocile: anthologie des chansons de Violeta Parra in 1977; Marjorie Agosín published an article on Parra in 1982; Isabel Parra published El libro mayor de Violeta Parra in 1985; and in 1989 Morales published his study ‘Violeta Parra: la génesis de su arte’ (‘Violeta Parra: the Genesis of her Art’). Morales's text has been translated into English for Chapter 1 of this book. These works are still key reading for interested scholars. That Manns's work was first published in French is indicative of the fact that Parra received more recognition overseas than she received in Chile.

Progress in the field of Violeta Parra studies in recent decades has been possible thanks to the work of the Violeta Parra Foundation, led by Parra's descendants. The foundation has published material and photographs, which have allowed research into more aspects of Parra's creative and scholarly practice. Certainly, a detailed study of Parra's art was not possible in the early days; however, her art is now exhibited in the Violeta Parra museum and it is detailed in Violeta Parra: obra visual. This has facilitated the research into her art that informs Chapters 7 and 8 of this volume.