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LITR 4231 Early American
Literature Sample Research Posts 2014 (research post assignment) Research Post 2 |
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Stephanie Ali
The Identity Crisis: Historical Writings on Women by their Captives
The story of La Malinche is widely known to Spaniards as well as
Mexicans. La Malinche, or Dona Marina, has an interesting story that has lived
on with many different interpretations for more than 400 years. My first
encounter with Dona Marina happened to be from a book called “Woman Hollering
Creek” authored by Sandra Cisneros which is a collection of stories, one of
them named “La Llorona.” This story, “La Llorona,” is parallel with the story of
Dona Marina. The main focus of the story is that a woman named Maria is
abandoned by her husband, goes crazy and drowns her 2 children in the river.
After she realizes what she had done, she swims after them but is also killed.
Her soul now roams the river at night with a horrible cry looking for her
children.
The legend says that her ghost
will abduct children at night and pull them in the river, mistaking them for her
own children. This story is used to frighten children to be obedient and not to
go out at night. I have asked quite a few of my friends of Mexican heritage and
they have all replied in the affirmative of hearing the story of La Llorona as a
child. There have been numerous stories in the news in the past 2 decades of
mothers drowning their children. Being a mother, this is a nightmare! Initially
my interest being pulled to the story of Dona Marina and La Llorona is because
of my identity as a mother. As I further researched, my attention has now
changed to the identity of being a woman. The role of woman in history is
generally that of being a mother, but there are plenty of examples of women in
history who have broken that mold. Even with such great examples of women’s
participation in establishing identities and contributing to the birth and
growth of nations, women still hold
a stereotype of being less than or “other.” In other words, women are still in
the minority category.
A more appropriate parallel with Dona Marina is that of Pocahontas. These
two women share an astonishing story in history. Both women married a man from
their captive state, were illiterate, had children of mixed heritage and left a
story that was to be written down by others, namely men. There are more striking
likenesses to their lives as well. Both women led a double life. Even their
birth name is not used in the texts that are available. So much of their life is
manipulated because of their position and the situation they faced. What is the
impact of their story being that it was written by other than themselves? How
would the story as we know it be different if it were
herstory?
The story of Dona Marina is the story of a woman who, in adversity, used her
knowledge of language and interpreting skills she acquired to stay alive and
function in a patriarchal society. In fact, Dona Marina was given this name
after her conversion to Christianity. Her birth name was most likely Malinalli,
or Ce-Malinalli, born into royalty of the Nahua tribe. She became the property
of the Mayans and then to the Spaniards, because her mother sold her as a slave
so she could not inherit from her deceased father. In addition, Dona Marina was
illiterate and most of the information we have about her was written by Bernal
Diaz del Castillo and Hernan Cortez, who used Dona Marina as a concubine. But
her greatest role was far more prestigious. She not only “served as an
interpreter, but also a liaison and a guide to the region, as an advisor on
native customs and beliefs, and as a competent strategist” (Candelaria 3).
After ten years of service and the birth of a son, Dona Marina was left empty
handed by Cortez as he returned to Spain with their son. For Mexicans, her name
has lived on with a negative connotation, meaning whore or traitor. This is
unfortunate because her role in the Spanish conquest was out of concern for her
own people, as she was told by Cortez that her efforts would better her people.
“She is said to have actively encouraged negotiations over bloodshed” (Conner).
About a hundred years later, Pocahontas, a young Algonquin girl served a similar
role as an unofficial emissary. Her father, Powhatan, was the leader of the
Algonquin group in Tidewater, Virginia when the Jamestown settlement was
established. She first encountered the Europeans in 1608, around the age of ten.
The Europeans captured her in hopes of ransom from her father but he refused.
Pocahontas was forced to settle in Jamestown with the English. Her real names,
Amonute and Matoaka, were known by the Europeans but her nickname, Pocahontas,
which means “little wanton”, is what her writers used when relaying the events
of her life. But like Malinche, her name changed when she was baptized into
Christianity, and her new name became Lady Rebecca. Pocahontas married John
Rolfe and had a child named Thomas. They traveled back to England where
Pocahontas died in 1617. Most of the knowledge of Pocahontas is from accounts
provided by European men, John Smith and William Strachey.
Within these texts are inconsistencies. For example, Stachey mentions
Pocahontas marrying an Indian around 1610. Contrarily, Smith never mentions this
marriage in his writings. Differences like these accounts question the accuracy
of her life. Perhaps the lack of knowledge of her culture contributed to
misinterpretations from Smith and Stachey who were writing about her. There is
no record indicating what the Algonquin people viewed her actions and also no
record of her culture and the reasons for her actions. “Like La Malinche,
Pocahontas is the first woman to play such a prominent role in literature from
the area which is now the United States” (Downs, 400). Pocahontas was a native
to American soil and the image of Pocahontas is used to describe American
nationalism. Apparently, she willingly embraced British civilization and this is
the idea that has influenced her identity.
Both Dona Marina (La Malinche) and Pocahontas lived during the early periods of
European/American contact. Within this, their stories came out of different
intentions. The Spanish goal was conquest whereas the English desired
colonization. Even though the writings of these women arose out of different
purposes, the men who wrote the stories of these two women are “the
representations created by others” (Downs 400). Would Pocahontas agree that she
assimilates into the English colony and “embraces” civilization? Would Dona
Marina agree that her motive was to betray her own people and that she accepted
her status as a concubine? Definitely these women’s stories are saturated with
the author’s views and personal understandings. The silence of these women leave
open an interpretation that is the untold story of
herstory.
Works Cited
Candelaria, Cordilia. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies,
Vol. 5, No. 2, Chicanas en el Ambiente Nacional/Chicanas in the National
Landscape (Summer, 1980), pp. 1-6
Conner, Michael. La Malinche: Creator or
Traitor?
http://www.tihof.org/honors/malinche.htm
Downs, Kristina.
Mirrored Archetypes: The Contrasting Cultural Roles of La Malinche and
Pocahontas.
Western
Folklore Vol.
67, No. 4 (Fall, 2008), pp. 397-414.
Published by: Western States Folklore Society
Delaney, Patty Harrington.
José Limón's "La Malinche".
Dance
Chronicle .Vol.
26, No. 3 (2003), pp. 279-309.Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Taylor, Analisa.
Malinche and Matriarchal Utopia: Gendered Visions of Indigeneity in Mexico.
Signs Vol.
31, No. 3, New Feminist Theories of Visual Culture (Spring 2006), pp.
815-840.Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Mexico was not a country, The Legend of La Malinche, dan banda
Indigenous Always, will La Malinche ever catch a break?
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