Stubbs week 9

Booksellers shelve books according to different criteria including discipline, region, genre (fiction, non-fiction, etc.) and other factors. If you had to pick four categories to characterize Malintzin's Choices, what would they be? Is this a book about Mesoamerica, Mexico, Latin America, somewhere else? Is this history, anthropology, linguistics, political science, a biography, etc.? Is this a book about women? A book about culture contact? A book about Native American culture? I am sure you can think of other categories and considerations as well. Please explain your choices! 

When considering the purpose of this book it is fairly obvious that it transgresses through several categories. Malintzin's Choice consists of the following: non-fiction, Historical, and a strong cultural view point of Mesoamerica. Aside from it's historical value it's also a story and flirts with an biographical account of Malintzine.

The first aspect to consider is this books non-fiction purpose. It is a written account of both Malinzine and the geographical location that she was involved in. Since the events actually happened and are told in chronological order it is considered historical text. It is both informative and contains a captivating story. I would make the argument that it's a biography of Malintzine because her name is in the title and most of the book recalls her endeavors. 

As far as Native cultural importance I wouldn't say that it's all that relevant compared other components, but it should not be discounted.  It displays many cultural attributes that can be valued to some extent.

In my personal opinion, pieces of historical literature are best suited for the paperback novel format rather than the text book. The information is more in depth into certain topics and allows for stylized writing. This book in particular translates the authors thoughts while staying accurate to it's historical purpose.

Steven Stubbs