The poem, La Malinche, by Carmen Tafolla, was written in 1978 and was inspired by a poem, Yo Soy Joaquin, written during the Chicano movement of the 1960’s. Tafolla wrote the poem as though la Malinche was writing it and it speaks of how life must have been for the woman from Teticpac forced to do the Spaniards bidding.
La Malinche was not her given name. Her given name was Malintzin Tenepal and when the Spanish conquered her they changed it to Dona Maria, but the name that has stuck throughout history is Malinche, or traitor. The people of Montezuma’s’ empire believed that she was “screwed”, that she was raped and she was used but that was not the case. She truly was a valued member of Cortez’s team.
The poem is written from the perspective of the woman called la Malinche. The position taken by the poem narrator about herself is that she was truly one of Cortez’s main advisors. Her family sold her into slavery, but she believes that was the best thing that ever happened. Once she had been sold to the Spanish a whole new world opened up for her, she was respected and valued by Cortez but most of all she was revered. Her people could not understand how such a powerful man could have such loyalty, but she was his “Interpreter, Advisor, and lover”. They said she was screwed, but in actuality she was able to survive and create a better life for herself.
When reading the poem, la Malinche should not be considered to be a pawn in Cortez’s army, but rather she should be considered to have had her own personal agenda. Her people had thrown her away so she wanted to get back at them for selling her to the Spanish; she was not a pawn to Cortez, he was a pawn to her. She used him just as much as he used her. She was “Not tricked, not screwed, not a traitor”; she saw happiness and used Cortez to reach it. She escaped, with his child, and was able to make a better life for herself, a life away from the hatred that she endured in her land.
She was considered by her people to be not loyal, to be conquered woman, and screwed. Some called her a survivor, but the name that she is remembered by is traitor. However, when looking deeper into the text a different person emerges. The poem is written so that the strong and calculating character that truly was la Malinche is shown.
Do you know the name of the painting? Now, if we compared this idea of her choosing to follow Cortés as a conscious decision, how are supposed to interpret the loss of cultural identity? "Who is your mother" has a completely different posture about the theme, right?
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