La Malinche: From Whore-Traitor to Mother-Goddess

It would be difficult to overestimate the burden attached to the memory of a single indigenous woman, known as La Malinche, who lived in Mexico five centuries ago. Given as a slave to Hernando Cortés, for whom she served for several years as interpreter and bearer of his mestizo child, she would come to be castigated as a traitor by those seeking independence from Spain some 300 years later. Perhaps even more than Cortés, she was blamed for opening the doors to the invaders and "betraying her own people," as she facilitated his conquest of Mexico. Others, however, over time, have realized she had few choices, as an adolescent slave, separated from her family and community. What is the real story of this young woman who's been known by many names, including La Malinche, doña Marina, Malintzin, Malinalli, and La Llorona, as well as other unmentionalble epithets? In this presentation, we'll discover who she was to her family, to the native communities she visited, and to the Spaniards who held her in captivity. Why were nationalists so intent on giving her a disparaging place in the construction of an anti-imperalist narrative? How are artists, novelists, and biographers rethinking her role in Cortés's conquests? Is the memory of doña Marina being redeemed? If so, by whom, how, and why?

Presenter Profile: Stephanie Wood, Senior Research Associate, CSWS

Stephanie Wood Stephanie Wood grew up in Northern California, picking apples and blueberries in the summers, rubbing shoulders with Mexican workers and becoming fascinated with their language and cultures. She comes from a family that greatly admired the Mexican heritage of California, built an adobe home, and traveled regularly south of the border. As an undergraduate, she lived in Mexico City, doing archival research for a senior thesis on indigenous communities' struggles to defend their lands. Her doctoral dissertation continued in this vein, requiring another year's research in Mexico. Now the author of three books and dozens of articles on Mexican history, Wood is developing a multimedia project about five female icons, including La Malinche, whose lives spanned five centuries and whose stories help us understand Mexican history today. Wood is also co-directing the Virtual Mesoamerican Archive and the Mapas Projects, two Internet-based works aimed at advancing Mesoamerican Studies and research into pictorial manuscripts from colonial Mexican indigenous town histories.