La Malinche
Posted By: Liz Goodrich
Date Posted: 4/4/2006
As part of the Deschutes Public Library’s A Novel Idea … Read Together, Stephanie Wood of the University of Oregon presents a program titled, “La Malinche: From Whore-Traitor to Mother-Goddess,” on Saturday, April 8 at 2:00 p.m. in the Brooks Room of the Bend Public Library. The presentation is part of the Novel Idea … Read Together, community-reading project offered by Deschutes Public Library and the Deschutes Public Library Foundation. The program is free and open to the public and is sponsored in part by the Center for the Study of Women in Society.
According to Wood, a research assistant for the Center for the Study of Women in Society, it would be difficult to overestimate the burden attached to the memory of a single indigenous women, know as La Malinche, who lived in Mexico five centuries ago. Given as a slave to Cortés, she served for several years as his interpreter before becoming the mother of his child, the first mestizo (both indigenous and Spanish heritage). La Malinche was blamed by some for opening the doors to the invaders and facilitating their conquest. Others, however, over time, have come to realize she had few choices. During her presentation, Wood will discuss the two opposing views of La Malinche as well as examining who she was to her family, the native communities and her Spanish captors. Wood, the author of three books and dozens of articles on Mexican history is currently developing a multimedia project about five female icons, including La Malinche, whose stories now help us understand Mexican history.
During the month of April, the Library will be hosting a variety of events in support of the Novel Idea … Read Together project. The programs are designed to give residents of Deschutes County a context for better understanding this year’s selected novel, González & Daughter Trucking Co. by María Amparo Escandón. The tale of Libertad, her father and her fellow inmates at the Mexicali Penal Institution for Women, is a story that has feet planted firmly on both sides of the U.S. and Mexican boarder and explores the themes of family, freedom, redemption and the power of storytelling. For a complete listing of Novel Idea programs, please call 312-1032.
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