La Mexicano Analysis

THE FATHER, THE SON, AND LA CHINGADA: THE TRINITY OF THE CONQUEST ‘Lo Mexicano’ is a phrase-turned-concept in 20th century Mexican philosophy. The term literally translates to “the Mexican,” however, it is also used to superficially describe the identity of the Mexican individual. The notion came about after the revolution; the phrase was meant to emphasize and unite Mexico as an independent people. Today, the phrase is understood as an all encompassing term for “mexicanness,” or that which makes someone a true mexican. Octavio Paz, a Mexican poet and essayist, is one of the many philosophers with a written piece regarding his understanding of Lo Mexicano. Paz’s “Sons of La Malinche” was first published in the Labyrinth of Solitude in 1950 and is a rather grim interpretation of the Mexican character, however, it captures the crisis of identity that Mexico was burdened with after the conquest. Paz uses the Spanish term “chingar,” (when literally translated means “to screw, to violate”) and its associated phrases to understand the conquest and the effect

La Chingada can take many forms; in this context, it is mother Mexico and La Malinche. Native Mexico and the conquest are obvious examples of a taking, however, La Malinche is all but a personified chingada. Doña Marina (La Malinche) was Hernán Cortés’s personal advisor and Indian mistress. Marina was used by Cortes and became recognized as evidence of the physical violation of women by Spanish conquistadors, or chingones. Paz argues that La Malinche can be seen as the violated Mother of Mexico, while La Virgen de Guadalupe is hailed as the virgin Mother. Both of these figures have passive personalities, weakening the character of one and emphasizing the maternal nature of the other. Also, both Mothers acted as middlemen; La Malinche as Cortes’s advisor from within and La Virgen as the intermediate between the Father and the