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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