Who’s Afraid of La Malinche? A Translational and Literary Construct

This paper considers La Malinche, Hernán Cortés’s interpreter and lover during the conquest of Mexico, as an emblematic figure for philosophical reflection on translation. I first focus on historical sources from the time of the Conquest, especially Hernán Cortés’s letters to King Charles V, Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s chronicles, and Bernardino de Sahagún’s General History. I then turn to twentieth-century rewritings of La Malinche’s story, especially the controversial version articulated by Octavio Paz and the retellings offered by feminist (Donna Haraway) and Chicana writers (Cherry Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua). Whereas Haraway captures the counterfounding and paradoxical aspect of La Malinche’s non-original origin, both Moraga and Anzaldua come to terms with the speculative structure of betrayal and with the negativity that pervades the process of translation.