![]() One can see the complicated aspects of La Malinche’s contribution to Mexican identity, which was most famously explored by Nobel laureate, Octavio Paz. La Chingada can be translated to “the fucked one.” Mexicans sometimes refer to themeselves as “Hijos de La Chingada,” or quite literally, as the bastard children of the sexual union between Cortes and La Malinche. Her various roles as interpreter, Cortes’ mistress, and informant, led to the less desirable labeling of her as “La Chingada” by modern Mexicans. Several accounts indicate that La Malinche was also responsible for foiling more than one Aztec plan to attack Cortes and the Spanish army. ![]() La Malinche was the mother of Cortes’ first son, who is considered to be one of the first Mestizos (a person of mixed European and American indigenous ancestry). One could argue that without Doña Marina serving as his interpreter and enabling him to communicate with the Indians, Cortes may not have been able to defeat the Aztecs, or at the very least, not as readily. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, an eyewitness to Malinche’s skill as an interpreter, stated that “Without the help of Doña Marina, we would not have understood the language of New Spain and Mexico.” They continued this practice until La Malinche was able to learn Spanish and interpret directly from Nahuatl to Spanish for Cortes. In one of the first documented incidences of relay interpreting, La Malinche and a Spanish priest named Gerónimo Aguilar worked as a team to interpret for Cortes by transferring Nahuatl (the Aztec language) to the Chontol Mayan language to Spanish. It is also not known how Cortes became aware of Malinche’s linguistic skills, but within a few weeks of being sold to him she had begun interpreting. Not much else is known about her early years except that her father died and she was sold into slavery (it is not known whether she was sold by her family or kidnapped and then sold), eventually ending up in the hands of Hernan Cortes and the Spaniards during their conquest of the Aztecs. ![]() As the daughter of a cacique, she was considered part of the noble class and allowed the opportunity to attend school. No matter what name you use, there is no doubt that she is one of the most influential interpreters in history.ĭoña Marina, who came to be known in Mexico as La Malinche, was born the daughter of a cacique during the rule of the Aztecs in the early 1500s. ![]()
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