A Xicanista (Re)Vision of a Contemporary Malinche in Ana Castillo’s The Mixquiahuala Letters (1986)

Abstract

This article investigates how Ana Castillo revisits the archetype of La Malinche as a female traitor in her epistolary novel The Mixquiahuala Letters. Castillo unravels her feminist perspective in order to subvert the sexist connotations associated with La Malinche, and draws from this specific female figure in the creation of her Chicana protagonist, narrator and letter-writer. Teresa represents a contemporary reinvention of La Malinche, a character who exposes the sexist double standards Chicanas are subjected to. In this way, Castillo delves into the Chicana experience and proposes a Xicanista vision that emphasizes the understanding of the past in order to be able to envision a better future.