Is she a traitor, a mother, or a visionary? From Mesoamerican figures and deities to colonial figures, this course reads the figure of the “woman” against the grain by placing Malinche at the center of our engagement with modern Chicanx literature and art that centralize these figures objects in their own understandings of gender and sexuality. In other words, we follow the trace left behind by Malinche. Throughout the course will also trace key figures, myths, and events throughout Latin American cultural histories through the present, including the legend of La Llorona, the religious iconography of the Virgen de Guadalupe, Santa Muerte, and DIY brujería. We will approach this course across media from texts, to film, to performance, to music, conversing with the past and the present to create a broader portrait of gender, Mexicanness, and Chicanidad across generations. CRN: 54425