5 Introduction: Mestizo, Miscegenation, and Metamorphosis
The three words that frame the readings in this module title are related, but the differences between them are key to understanding these readings individually and collectively.
Mestizo is a Latin American term that describes individuals who have mixed Native American and European Spanish ancestry. It is generally considered a neutral, even positive, term today, but that perspective is not universal. In Mexico, its roots go back to the union of Spanish conquistador and governor of New Spain, Hernan Cortes, and a native woman, La Malinche, who became his interpreter and the mother of his first son, Martin. Martin, born in 1523, was called “El Mestizo.” The word mestizo roughly translates to mixture—but hybrid might be a better English synonym. The caste system in “New Spain” was elaborate: mestizos were roughly in the middle, positioned between the Spanish colonizers and the indigenous peoples of Latin America.
The beloved iconic symbol of Mexican identity, the Virgin of Guadalupe, is mestizo. The first reference we have to her dates from 1548, and the date of her encounter with Juan Diego was identified as December 9, 1531. She is a a syncretic figure that unites indigenous Latin American Na’huatl ethnicity and culture with the Christian Mary, mother of Jesus. In text and image, she is depicted as having the appearance of the Na’huatl and the iconic attire and halo of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Arguably, her origin lies in the desire of the Catholic church to convert the Na’hatl people. But regardless of whether she originated as colonizing propaganda, she has become something much more empowering for the people of Mexico: a symbol of Mexican national identity and pride as well as a maternal spiritual figure.
Miscegenation is a decidedly less savory term: in the United States it has historically been used as a derogatory epithet (essentially a racial slur) to describe sexual relations between people of European heritage and people of African heritage and the resulting children. It is an ugly term for an ugly idea: that the “purity” of race must be preserved and that the “white” or “Caucasian” races should not be tainted by “lesser” races. In fact, the whole idea of separate races versus one species is now generally considered offensive—at best. In the United States the concept was used to ban interracial marriage and especially to degrade and disparage any children born to an interracial couple. Although the Civil War should have put an end to this practice and perspective, it did not. It was not until 1967 that the Supreme Court decided that any remaining anti-miscegenation state laws were unconstitutional and in violation of the 14th Amendment which was adopted in 1868.
The third word, however, is something else: you might know the term metamorphosis from biology, where it is used to describe the transformation of a creature from one form to another: a “striking change of form or structure in an individual after hatching or birth.” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
The word comes from Latin and Greek roots. Meta means above or higher, beyond, and after in the sense of next. Morphosis means structure or form. One of the most famous works of world literature is Ovid’s epic poem (my translation runs to almost 600 pages) Metamorphoses, which describes a series of transformations, often of humans into another form—generally fauna or flora—culminating with the transformation of Augustus Caesar from an emperor to a deity.
Metamorphosis often implies the transformation from a lower state into a higher state—such as the above mentioned transformation of Augustus into a god—or the transformation of a mortal man into an immortal writer. In the final lines of the Metamorphoses Ovid exults that “my name and fame are sure: I shall have life.” By this he means that although he himself will die, he nevertheless live on through his writing. In some ways, this is the most profound metamorphosis of all in his book.
As you read the texts in this unit, consider them through the lenses of the trinity of themes for this anthology and the three terms outlined above. Don’t assume that any of these readings has a one-to-one relationship with the terms. Literature and life are more complex, and you might find the presence of all three terms in a single reading.
