Popular Culture Review Vol. 24, No. 2, Summer 2013 | Page 44

40 Populär Culture Review foreigners, and that it was “One o f the mysteries o f fate that every M exican owes his downfall to a woman” (quoted by Perez-Lagunes 25). Ireneo Paz (1861-1924), a writer, joum alist and intellectual, incorporated nationalism and Native American cultural contributions into M exican identity in his historical novel Amor y suplicio (1873) and its sequel Doria Marina (1883). He rewrote the story o f the Conquest in term s o f an affair o f passion. In Ireneo Paz’s novel, Malinche voices her love for Cortes: “[Cortes] is my life, and the other half o f my soul, my adoration” (qtd. by Cypess, La Malinche 85). He charged that Malinche betrayed her people, but mitigated her actions on the grounds that she was the victim o f her own destiny. Heriberto Frias (1870-1925), author o f the controversial novel The Battle ofTomochic, wrote a series o f chapbooks for children in 1900. Each book was small (4 3/4” by 3 1/4”) and designed to convey the ideals o f nationalism to the next generation. He described Cortes as “challenging and terrible,” in Hernan Cortes y Sus Primeras Adventuras (8). Frias portrayed Malinche as “intelligent” in La Noche Triste, as