La Malinche

This image was taken from a website (http://www.mexico-consulate.org) and the image shares the webpage with a brief biography of La Malinche. For the purpose of this blog, I will assume that the artist intended it to be Malintzin. The image I chose is a drawing of a Native American woman. I am not sure as to whether or not the artist intended for this drawing to be a depiction of La Malinche or not, but it is my ambiguity that convinced me to write my blog on it.

The woman depicted looks to be between the ages of twenty and thirty. Her face looks very calm, reserved, and composed but at the same time confident. Her defiance look could be mistaken for hopeless sorrow which makes the drawing even more intriguing. Behind her head are markings that look like indigenous patterns decorating a wall. I am guessing that a wall this nice would only be found in a palace or a temple. From what we can see, her clothing is rather simple.

The thing that stood out to me most about this drawing was that it is strikingly normal compared to most other depictions of the Native translator. For one, the image is in black and white. Secondly, it isn’t obvious that the woman pictured is even Malintzin. There is no Cortes, no Conquistadors, no warriors, just a woman.

I think Camilla Townsend would like this picture of Malintzin because it shows what Townsend argues: Malintzin was a not a devil, nor a saint. She was simply a Nahua girl who did what most other girls in her time, location, and situation would have done. She was not a two faced traitor, but a girl who did what she did out of common sense. This image reflects that normalcy.