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Populär Culture Review
the tale combines the stories o f two female folk characters. Malinche
m oums forever those who died as a result o f her assistance to the
Spaniards.
Jesus H elguera’s images o f strong Aztec warriors and nubile
princesses, and yes, Malinche, captured the imaginations o f generations
o f M exican families and became icons o f Chicano populär culture.
Engravers used Helguera’s populär images in calendars and cigar boxes
to disseminate nationalist history to the masses. One still finds his
renditions in the parlor o f the homes o f many Mexican families. In
Cortes y la Malinche, she rides a white charger seated in front o f her
lover. The paintings o f Malinche, European in features and dress, express
Helguera’s classical artistic training in Spain.
For Ireneo Paz, the grandfather, Malinche is a positive character
inspired by love and propelled by destiny. For Octavio Paz, the grandson,
Malinche is negative and motivated by selfishness, the victim o f her own
poor choices. Nobel laureate Octavio believed that myths like Malinche
die and are rebom again under new circumstances. His version o f the
M alinche myth emphasized her treachery, the betrayal o f her people, the
violence o f the conquest, and the birth o f the first mestizo. For Octavio,
Malinche is the key to the Mexican soul.
Octavio Paz believed that women have an innate vulnerability
that transforms them into chingadas (those who are violated). Malinche
represents indigenous women fascinated with, and seduced by, the
Spaniards. “ She is the seed o f shame that every Mexican, but especially
every M exican male, carries within him” (86). Octavio Paz argued that
Cortes an B