LITR 5831 Colonial-Postcolonial
Literature
|
|
Cristen Lauck
November 27, 2011
La Malinche: an Explanation for the Lack of Colonized
Mexico’s voice
After the limited
results of my first research post, I was frustrated that I had little
explanation as to why there is little account of what the Mayans felt about the
invading Spanish colonizers. I learned from my previous research that the lack
of perspective of the native people is partly because a lot of their texts were
destroyed by fires, yet I still wanted more of an explanation. However, I was at
a loss for what or where to look next until I was introduced to the myth of the
“La Malinche”. I had no idea what the story was but was eager to find out if it
would help to explain why we hear so little from the Mayans. So I began as I
usually do to get a general idea about a subject and read what Wikipedia had to
say.
By reading the
Wikipedia page on La Malinche, I learned that La Malinche is the mythological
name given to a native Yucatan woman who was the “interpreter, advisor, lover,
and intermediary for Hernan Cortes” (La Malinche). Her birth name was Malinalli
and she later took the Christian name Marina and the Spanish soldiers added the
honorific title Dona which means lady (La Malinche). I learned that the name La
Malinche is a Spanish pronunciation of her Nahuatl name Malin-tzin (La
Malinche). Wikipedia explains that some historians see her as saving her people
from the Aztecs but because she aided the Spanish, she is also seen as betraying
the native people (La Malinche). I read that “La Malinche’s legacy is one of
myth mixed with legend, and the opposing opinions of the Mexican people about
the woman” and that “the historical figure of Marina has been intermixed with
Aztec legends” (La Malinche). After getting a general overview of who La
Malinche was, I then moved on to trying to find out what her myth had to do with
the lack of perspective of the native Yucatan people.
So I started with
the school’s library to research more thoroughly the myth of La Malinche. I was
overwhelmingly surprised as to how much information there was about this person.
I found many articles through the school’s library online article database
Academic Search Complete. One very helpful article was by
Frances
Karttunen and titled
"La Malinche and Malinchismo."
This article gave a basic
history of the woman Dona Marina who became the legend La Malinche. Karttunen
also shows the inconsistencies of the myth including that, contrary to popular
belief, she did not travel to Spain to be at court nor did she live in a palace
in Mexico City and her two mestizo children were not the first born in
post-colonial Mexico (Karttunen
352). Karttunen also explains that the portrayal of Dona Marina as an invaluable
asset to the Spanish as an interpreter began to change 300 years after she died
and changed to one of condemnation because of her betrayal of her fellow people
(Karttunen 353). Part of the reason why her myth has changed so much is partly
due to the fact that there is so little factual information about her as a
historical figure. In fact, Karttunen explains that “Cortes mentions Dona Marina
just twice in his reports to Spain and only once by name” (Karttunen 352).
Because there is so little information about her, her myth is allowed to evolve
and change depending on the current cultural and social situation. Karttunen
explains that La Malinche’s “identification, pervasive today, is a modern
construction” (Karttunen 354). She also says the myth of La Malinche is still
evolving today and now has changed back to put Dona Marina in a positive light
(Karttunen 255). Karttunen’s article gives great incite to the myth of La
Malinche and how dona Marina’s story has evolved through time depending on the
needs of her audience.
I also
found a very interesting article titled
"Signs from the Present: Victor Hugo Rascon Banda's La Malinche" by Brian
Chandler. This article is
an outstanding example of how a myth can evolve out of history and come to
represent many changing aspects within a culture. It is an account of the play
titled La Malinche and how it has
evolved from the historical figure of Dona Marina to become a symbol for change.
Chandler shows how, like the historical figure of “La Malinche," in the play the
character La Malinche’s identity changes as she navigates through key events in
Mexico’s history (Chandler 3). For Chandler, the character La Malinche is
representative of how stories and myths change through history and addresses the
needs of the current audience. He acknowledges the fact that as the myth of La
Malinche changes, Dona Marina’s actual history becomes less accurate but
concludes that facts are less significant because the story still relevant to
the audience. Chandler says “regardless of the controversy … the dramatic text
is itself an engaging and profound work on history and contemporary politics and
culture in Mexico” (Chandler 5). Chandler defends his understanding of the
purpose of myths and language saying “to question the validity of translation
and mediation does not destroy the agency of language, but rather it makes
visible the ways in which discourse can be used to manipulate and maintain
hegemonic power” (Chandler 13). Chandler believes myths need to evolve and
change with the culture and a prime example of this is with the myth of La
Malinche.
I also
found through searching through the school’s library catalogue a book titled
Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
by Matthew Restall. In his book, there was a chapter titled
“The Lost Words of La Malinche”
and it was very helpful in giving another reason as to why there is a lack of
voice of the Mayan peoples. The chapter explains that we hear very little from
the Mayan peoples because the conquering Spanish were not interested in the
natives and what they had to say. They did not care to know what the natives
thought; they just wanted them to submit. Restall explains that the colonizers
do “not succeed in [their] human communication because [they are] not interested
in them” (Restall 89). Restall uses the example of Dona Marina to show how
little the Spanish colonizers cared about the natives. He explains that even
though Dona Marina was a favorite of the Spanish, they still did not care what
she thought. Restall says historians know Dona Marina was a favored native
because she lived with and gave children to Cortes, and yet we do not hear from
her own voice. Restall also shows that because we do not hear what Dona Marina
really thought, it allows for interpretation and for her myth to change,
depending on what the audience is looking for. He shows that there is little
evidence of what the natives thought, even a favorite native, because the
Spanish did not care what they thought.
All these articles gave great incite to why there is so little
we know about what the native Yucatan people thought about the invading Spanish
colonizers. This lack of voice is partly due to how some cultures use historical
myths. Some stories change based on the interests and needs of a culture. Some
stories are not based on facts but on myths that have evolved through time. I
also learned that another major reason for the lack of voice of the natives is
because the Spanish did not care about saving the natives’ writings. The Spanish
did not care about what the natives thought therefore, they were not interested
in preserving their thoughts. In the end, I am still disappointed I do not know
how the native people felt about the invading Spanish; at least I have a reason
for why they are not heard.
Works Cited
Chandler, Brian. "Signs from the Present: Victor Hugo Rascon Banda's La
Malinche." University of Houston Clear Lake Library. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
<http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2057/ehost/search/advanced?sid=808202ff-050d-408d-8830-333b8681b431@sessionmgr10>.
Karttunen, Frances. "La Malinche and Malinchismo." Concise Encyclopedia of
Mexico. By Michael S. Werner. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001. 352-55. Print.
"La Malinche." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche>.
Restall, Matthew. "The Lost Words of La Malinche." Seven Myths of the Spanish
Conquest. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. 77-99. Print.
