Malinchism (Spanish; Castilian: malinchismo) is a form of attraction that a person from one culture develops for another culture, a particular case of cultural cringe. It has been described as an ethnic inferiority complex or national self-hatred.[1] The term is used in Latin America, and especially in Mexico, to refer to the development of an admiration for the culture, ideas, behaviors, and lifestyle of the United States over those that are homegrown.[2]
La Malinche is often used as a symbol for those who aided the Spaniards in the destruction of indigenous American cultures and ways of life. "Malinchism" may be taken as a pejorative, as an expression of disdain for those who are attracted by foreign values, thinking them superior, of better quality and worthy of imitation. It is derived from the name of Hernán Cortés's Nahua advisor La Malinche, referring to a deep-rooted Mexican inferiority complex.
In Mexico and in other countries the term "malinchism" or "malinchist" applies to all those who feel an attraction to foreign cultures and disregard for their own culture. It also applies to politics, as in El Salvador, where leftist political parties call their opponents "malinchist right-wing". The myth of Malinche came to be applied as a technical term for giving preference to Western cultures. The concept has a potential broader application to refer to a colonized country developing an admiration or affection for a colonizing country.
Malinchism is also associated with the depiction of women as symbols of betrayal and deceitful behavior.[3] In Mexican popular culture, this theme often portrays Malinche as both the deceiver and the deceived. In theatrical productions, she is sometimes depicted as a victim of conquest, while in other portrayals, she is portrayed as the architect of her own fate. She is represented in art as a figure showing women's inborn deception and guilt — one who used her sexuality and betrayed her children.[4] Even in dance, the dichotomy persists. In La Malinche, a ballet composed in 1949, by José Limón, Malinche is at first an unwilling victim, then assumes the proud deportment of an aristocrat, and in the end, weighted down by the finery she wears, she gives birth to a mixed-race child who rejects her.[5] In literature, Malinche has been compared to Eve, the temptress who through deception, leads men astray.[6]
Ueltschy and Ryans argued that upper-class consumers in Mexico display malinchism in their preference for American imports, rather than local Mexican brands. As result, American products are popular in middle class markets and their advertisers generally concentrate their efforts on urban Mexico City and avoid working class and rural areas. Monterrey and Guadalajara, for example, purchase 70 percent of American imports.[7] Jiménez et al. developed a scale for measuring malinchismo that accounted for the favoring of foreign entertainment, foreign people, foreign food, and foreign products among adolescents.