Once Upon a Time in Malintzin's Mexico

In Malintzin's Choices Camilla Townsend has produced a descriptive and expertly written account of the conquest of Mexico that highlights the agency and point of view of a young meso-American woman who becomes the translator and advisor of Hernan Cortez after being sold into slavery. In many such a way as has been observed in the works of Ginzburg and Sparks she uses knowledge of the context to paint an image of Malintzin. In doing so she seeks to rescue her memory from vilification and place it in the context of her times. This seems to be a recurring theme in microhistory. The small and not-so-servile slave girl was not only useful to her Spanish allies but could also assert her own agency in doing so. Furthermore, Townsend takes pains to understand how the events of the conquest would have been viewed from the perspective of meso-american. This provides us with a glimpse of what Malinche would have been thinking even though she admits there is no way to know for sure.

Townsend's work tells us a great deal about daily life and meso-american women in general. Themes such as gender complementarity and household production are present throughout. In this way it reminded me of Martha Ballard's story only in this case we have an example of a woman choosing to engage in political events rather than shun them. I found it interesting that Townsend asserts that when coming into contact with Malinche her fellow meso-americans would have needed a new word to describe her, for she was in effect inventing a new social category for herself. She is perhaps an example of a Creole trailblazer. The use of written, oral, and visual evidence was refreshing. This must have been a difficult work to put together since she did not have a single source from which to draw information.

This being my second time reading this I felt I gained a better appreciation for it by viewing as a microhistory. The simple change in perspective gives a whole new light on the conquest of Mexico as well as provides insights into the mentality of normal-exceptional meso-american women.