La Malinche

Mujer, nación y género

Abstract

The Malinche: woman, nation and gender. The Malinche is introduced here as a symbol of Mexico and of woman, her social valuation and importance in the construction of the national and gender imaginaries. It is a question of an image, of a concrete, vibrant, expressive and precise condensation; a social representation or archetype, which has been modified across the centuries. And still in our days she is seen in different ways, as we will argue throughout these pages, either from the perspective of children and adolescents (through the application of a questionnaire), or in the official discourse in primary school text books (through an analysis), or in the opinion of teachers (through interviews). It is important to differenciate the image depending on the subject studied. We note that the most important qualifying adjective used by the young generations is “intelligent”, i.e. that not only the historical or mythical role of The Malinche in Mexico, but also the female image and its importance are considered.