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Populär Culture Review
o f Malinche are the result o f the bias o f those who wrote about her in the
last five hundred years.
Malinche and the Chroniclers
I replied that if he wished to know the truth, he had only to ask the
Interpreter with whom he was speaking, Marina,
whom I have always had with me.
Cortes, Letters from Mexico
The Chroniclers were advocates and propagandists. They
presented M alinche as they wished her to be, rather than as she actually
was. Peter Novik argued in The Authority o f Experts, “We know that it
(truth) w on’t hold under the severest strain, but in high wind and shoal
water, even a light anchor is superior to none at all” (x). The Chroniclers
agreed on five “truths,” however flimsy their evidence or blatant their
bias. M alinche was beautiful and intelligent. She acted as the interpreter,
guide, and mistress o f Cortes. She accepted Christianity and brought it to
the indigenous people. She was the mother o f the first mestizo and
instrumental in the overthrow o f the Aztec empire.
Cortes referred to his interpreter as the “tongue” (la lengua)
“who is an Indian woman o f this land” (72). He credited his success to
God and Malinche (Lenchek 2). This young Mesoamerican woman
advised Cortes to appear more like the incamation o f the Aztec god
Quetzalcoatl. She muted the brash demeanor, abrasive speech, and
cultural insensitivity o f Cortes. Malinche convinced the indigenous
people to join the Spanish and fight for their ffeedom from the choleric
Aztec empire. The combined Spanish and native army o f Cortes was
ninety-five percent Amerindian (Saylor 2). She communicated the Orders
o f Cortes to his allies on the battlefield.
Gömara, his biographer and secretary, exalted the Spanish leader
in his History o f the Conquest o f Mexico (1552). He described Malinche
as one o f the women slaves that Cortes assigned to his officers to cook
and satisfy their sexual needs (Perez-Lagunes 7). He pointed out her
importance to Cortes as interpreter and secretary. He also related the
story o f her baptism and role in uncovering a plot to ambush the
Spaniards.
Diaz, a Spanish foot soldier, fashioned Malinche as a central
figure in his narrative, correcting what he considered Gömara’s errors.
Diaz described her as a heroic, beautiful, and intelligent woman who
served Cortes as an interpreter and trusted ally. Diaz noted that Father