(http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/charlotcoll/posada/images/posada/posbib45.gif)
In this image, which I'm assuming is the cover of a book, Malintzin is portrayed as a stereotypical native. She is wearing what we think of as typical native dress, complete with a feather in her hair. She is looking off into the distance as if waiting for Cortes and the rest of the Spanish to arrive. Or maybe she ran ahead and is making sure the Spanish are keeping up with her. Her arms are in a very awkward position, it looks as if she is trying to sign a message to someone, but what that message is and who it is for we do not know.
I think Townsend would not be happy with this image. While it attempts to show Malintzin as a translator, the fact that she is dressed like a stereotypical native means that the artist sees nothing special in her. Townsend would argue that Malintzin was not only special, but extraordinary. Not only was she smart, but she knew the only way to survive with the Spanish was to make herself useful to them. By being out in the middle of the desert in this picture, she is not being useful to anyone. On top of that, Malintzin, according to Townsend, is a very controversial figure in Mexico, something which this picture does not capture. This picture just does not scream "I am a controversial and complex individual," but more "I am an average native with nothing unique about me." Again, I think Townsend would disagree with this notion. She would find this image too simplistic.
I don't think Townsend would object to this image. I think the thing Townsend is particularly concerned with is the various labels put on Malinche by different cultural backgrounds. Images that are guilty of this typically cast her as hero or villain by showing her adorned with jewelry (wealth) or promiscuous. The image here seems neutral in terms of typical bias imagery. She is indeed in a desert, she is alone, and yes she is wearing native clothing but none of these things imply to me any sort of disrespect. This understated image gives an heir of accuracy and focus. if she had been portrayed following conquistadors it would have made her look weak, if she had been leading it would look campy and may have implied that she was responsible for invasion. If I was trying to write a book or make a movie about Malinche I think this is the type of image I would use. Nothing here has implication, she has been stripped of her common thematic roles and given a blank slate for which historians and film makers can paint whatever they wish.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument regarding placing labels on Malintzin, twizelby. Townsend makes it clear that the various views of her are indeed based on cultural background (2-4). Often, those images reflect what the artist(s) want the audience to feel regarding Malintzin. I also agree with you in saying that this picture is neutral. While the picture I posted last week definitely placed positive connotations regarding Malintzin, there are also some out there which place a negative one on her. This one does a fair job of allowing the audience to surmise its own interpretations of Malintzin without placing a certain hint at it.
DeleteOn the other hand, I don’t think that this picture necessarily depicts her as a translator. For all we know she’s looking at the sky, or a liger. Even if she is a translator for the Spanish, her being in the desert does not necessarily mean that she is of no use to anyone; perhaps she is guiding the Spaniards through it, which actually further reiterates the importance she was to them throughout their travels. Also, the picture translated in English more or less states “History of the Beautiful Mallintzin,” which implies that least of all, if she ordinary in every other way, she is at least beautiful. To tag on to what twizelby mentioned about the neutrality of this image, I think that it’s the neutrality which captures the “controversy” regarding how to properly duplicate her image.