Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Award for
Best Article in the Category of “People”
Best Article in the Category of “World History”
Largely due to the importation of disease and use of superior weapons, the Spaniards were able to conquer the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, kill the empire’s last emperor, Cuauhtémoc, and bring the Aztec empire to an end. Few know of La Malinche, the indigenous interpreter of Hernán Cortés, whose linguistic abilities were used to facilitate important conversations between the Spaniards and the indigenous leaders. Without the help of La Malinche, perhaps the Aztec empire would have survived.
Born between 1502 and 1505, La Malinche was named Malinalli Tenepal, the first part of her name being a Nahuatl term for the twelfth day of the month in correspondence to the Aztec calendar, and the second part of her name meaning “lively.” She was born of nobility in Paynala within the region of Veracruz. Her troubles started at a young age after the death of her father. La Malinche was ousted from her home to ensure her new half-brother received the inheritance of the family instead of her, since she was the eldest child. She was given to “some Indians of Xicalango.”1 Then the Indians gave her to a nobleman in Tobasco, a region in the Yucatan. When Cortés arrived to Tobasco, he was offered twenty slaves, one of them being La Malinche. Having lived in Veracruz, a Nahuatl-speaking region, and then being sold into a Maya-speaking region, La Malinche knew both languages and she was soon recognized for the linguistic talents that could benefit Cortés in his conquests.2
The few glimpses of La Malinche and how her presence as an interpreter accelerated the fall of the Aztec empire can be found in the writings of the Spanish explorers, specifically from Hernán Cortés, her “lord and master.”3 From the second letter Hernán Cortés wrote to Emperor Charles V, dated October 30, 1530, Cortés speaks of La Malinche as “a female interpreter that I had, who was a native of this country, and whom I obtained at Putunchún on the Rio Grande.”4 This confirms the vague aspects of her life that we already know. But most importantly, in this context, this letter goes on to tell of a scenario in which La Malinche saved the Spaniards from an ambush by the Cholulans. La Malinche was told by the wife of a native leader that they planned to attack the Spaniards and if La Malinche came with them, she would be protected. La Malinche delivered this message to Cortés, which ultimately led to the massacre of Cholula and provided a direct path to march towards Tenochitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire.5 This leads to the question of whether or not La Malinche was a traitor or a survivor. Did she explicitly want the Aztec empire to fall or did she just want to save herself from the carnage?
With no traces of primary sources from La Malinche herself, her story has been retold by various scholars without much consistency, nothing ever being certain. Up until the twentieth century, La Malinche was viewed as a traitor to her country Mexico. In 1861, on the celebration day of Mexico’s Independence, Ignacio “El Nigromante” Ramírez, a Mexican journalist, addressed the Mexican people by saying, “One of the mysteries of fate is that every Mexican owes his downfall and disgrace to a woman, and to another woman his salvation and glory; the myth of Eve and Mary is reproduced everywhere; we indignantly remember Cortés’s mistress and will never forget, in our gratitude to Doña María Josefa Ortiz.”6 La Malinche is seen as playing a key role in the subjugation of the Mexican peoples to Spain, while Doña María Josefa Ortiz did the contrary and liberated the country. However, many Chicana writers and modern scholars are trying to rewrite the tale of La Malinche to understand the complexities of her choices and to vindicate her. For example, Gloria Anzaldua promotes the idea that La Malinche had a “new consciousness,” that she voluntarily served as the interpreter of Cortés not only to save herself, but also because she knew that a new mestiza culture was going to be born (especially considering she had a son with Cortés in 1524).7 She made a conscious effort to exchange language and cultural aspects from each side in order to facilitate the emergence of the new mestiza society; however, with that came brutal consequences in the shape of warfare and mass death in the New World.
Whether or not La Malinche’s role as Cortés’s interpreter was traitorous, simply an effort to survive, or some other complex reason involving love for Cortés, hate for the Aztec empire for the cruelty she faced after being ousted from her home, or promotion of the new mestiza culture, no one will ever know the true story of the Indian, slave woman who traveled alongside Cortés towards the culmination of the Aztec empire.
- Bernal Castillo del Díaz, The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico, 1517-1521 rev. American ed., trans. A.P. Maudsley (New York: The Noonday Press, 1965), chap. 22-23. ↵
- Pilar Godayol, “Malintzin/ La Malinche/ Doña Marina: re-reading the myth of the treacherous translator,” Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies 18, no. 1 (April 2012): 61-68. ↵
- Castillo del Bernal, chap 23. ↵
- Hernan Cortes to Emperor Charles V, October 30, 1520, in Letters of Despatches of Hernando Cortes, to the Emperor Charles V., trans. (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1843), letter II. ↵
- Hernan Cortes to Emperor Charles V, October 30, 1520, in Letters of Despatches of Hernando Cortes, to the Emperor Charles V, letter II. ↵
- Rosario Pérez-Lagunes, “The Myth of La Malinche: From the Chronicles to Modern Mexican Theater” (PhD dis., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2001), 24. Although she was of Spanish descent, Doña María Josefa Ortiz was born in Valladolid, Mexico in 1768 and identified herself as Mexican. She and her husband were both a part of the rebellion that ultimately led to Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1824. ↵
- Godayol, 68-70. ↵
230 comments
Belene Cuellar
I have never even heard of La Malinche before, so it’s quite interesting to see how much of an impact she had on the fall of the Aztec empire. I don’t think she betrayed the empire for revenge or out of spite. I honestly think there is more to her story than what is revealed. I think she did everything to survive and out of fear of being killed. Based on her back story it’s no wonder she took every precaution to survive.
Jocelyn Moreno
I’ve never heard of La Malinche before this article. It was very interesting, her background story seemed very sad. Everyone seems very conflicted whether she was a traitor or a survivor and in my opinion I believe she was a survivor, maybe the reason she didn’t abandon Cortes was because he offered her things she may not have been able to access. Also he could offer her child a better future than she could if she was alone.
Madison Guerra
I feel as though La Malinche was a traitor to her people. She was one of the main reasons the Aztec people fell. She had an opportunity to run away from Cortez and his men and be protected but she chose to stay and tell him what had happened. Many say she did it to survive, but she had missed opportunities to change the course of how things happened. She was a traitor to her people and she will always be remembered for the wrong decisions she made,
Alyssa Garza
I’ve never heard of La Malinche before but everyone’s trying to decide if she was a traitor or survivor. I’m going with that she’s a survivor because she could speck both languages and she chose to help Cortes. There’s a lot of information that no one truly knows and I dough were going to find out. The thing is she made a choice to stay and be useful maybe she though her chances of survivor was better with Cortes than with anyone else or maybe she just didn’t want to risk leaving and decide to help Cortes instead.
Alexander Manibusan
I did not know that La Malinche knew both Nahuatl and Maya. Although I learned that La Malinche is considered a traitor to Mexico I cannot help but wonder if she actually was one or if she believed that somehow natives and Spaniards can live together, or if she was just saving her own skin. She did, after all, had a rough childhood. She went from slave to someone powerful who could communicate between the two vastly different worlds. I wish we knew more about her.
Antoinette Johnson
This article, “La Malinche: Traitor Or Survivor?” is a sad, but great article. The article relates back to people who do things that most people question and belittle, but we do not know what that person is or went through. We don’t what that person is thinking and their reasoning behind their actions. La Malinche is known as a traitor by her culture, everyone assumes why she helped end the Aztec rule. We don’t know her point of view, what made her decide to make the decisions she did. She went through a lot from being removed from home to being a slave to being a traitor. She did not get a break constantly she is receiving one title after another. She is her only champion in the sense that she knows her motives and objectives.
Hector Garcia
La Malinche definitely rose my attention because I have heard of her. And the real answer is that we don’t know but maybe, La Malinche saw that Spaniards were superior to the Aztecs in technological advancements. And she would decide to side with Spaniards because she knew that they were going conquer the Aztecs. So, she decided to make herself useful and unreplaceable to the Spaniard. This article poses an important question that many Chicana writers have been trying to figure out for many years and it seems like we won’t be getting any answers soon. But if I would have to decide, I would consider La Malinche more of a survivor rather a traitor.
Samuel Ruiz
To be completely honest, I was not expecting La Malinche to be a girl when I began reading this article. The theme of this article and La Malinche’s work as an interpreter reminded me of the strategies that the military used to send messages during the World Wars (I cannot recall which war this strategy was used. This article kept me reading, good job!
Auroara-Juhl Nikkels
This was an interesting article to read. I had never heard of this woman before now. I think it was interesting to see how she betrayed her people but at the same time did not. Perhaps she could see a better future for her child. The quotes you used in text really helped me understand and gain a better understanding of the situation. Great Article!
Destiny Flores
There are so many languages in the world, it’s no surprise when we come across a language barrier. Being an interpreter, you sort of hold all the pieces in your hands, because you can have either side hear what you want them too. It’s almost scary because if that person has ill intentions, or a plan to sabotage one side, it can end with disastrous consequences.