FEMININE PROTAGONISM AND MEMORIALISTIC TRACES IN MALINCHE, BY LAURA ESQUIVEL AND INÉS DEL ALMA MÍA, BY ISABEL ALLENDE
Memory; Narratives of historical extraction; Malinche; Inés Suárez.
Throughout sixteenth century, several areas of the American continent went through the process of conquest undertaken by European nations such as Spain and Portugal, for example. From this historical context as a scenario, we have Malinche’s (2005) and Inés del alma mía’s (2006) literary works, which are narratives of historical extraction written by Laura Esquivel and Isabel Allende, respectively, which present a look at female figures who participated in a significant increase in Mexico’s and Chile’s occupation by the Spaniards. The female protagonists presence is a recurring feature in both Latin American writers and, in the case of the narratives that we propose to analyze, this characteristic lasts, with memory as a fundamental element in the construction of the texts. In this way, we seek in this work, to analyze how Esquivel and Allende construct their narratives giving voice to the woman as protagonist in the conquest of America and how the abandonment, present in Malinalli’s and Inés Suárez’s lives, significantly influenced their destinies, leaving marks in their memories, elements that are rescued by the authors. Our study is based on bibliographical research, using as theoretical basis Costa Lima (1983, 1986, 2006) and his discussions on the relations between historical text and fictional text; Menton (2003) and Trouche (2006) and their theoretical systematizations about historical romance;Todorov (1993), Díaz del Castillo (2003) and Delgado (1987) and their approaches to historical data concerning the protagonists of the narratives under study; Le Goff (2003) and Ricoeur (2007) and their conceptions about memory, among other authors related to the research theme. Facing the proposed objectives, we found that abandonment was a determining factor for Malinalli’s and Inés Suárez’s fates. In addition, through the analysis, we were able to identify a clear intention of the writers to elaborate re-readings and / or rewrites of the memories of both fictional historical characters, highlighting the woman’s role in America’s conquest and questioning the historical records about them, as well as the constructed images around their figures.