ABSTRACT
Mestizo writers have created a mestizo language which reflects identity as a cultural product which is in a border-space, a place where different cultural values intersect. A mestizo language aims to intervene, to be different to the language that uses an objective and triumphant epistemology. This chapter focuses on mestizo language in Borderlands/La frontera: The New Mestiza, by Gloria Anzaldua, before going on to study the role of translation in Loving in the War Years. Lo que nunca paso por sus labios, by Cherrie Moraga. Anzaldua even talks about “linguistic terrorism”. She says that the mestizas are Deslenguadas. Similarly, Moraga, like Anzaldua before her, thinks that her responsibility to her roots is to be in both worlds, constantly translating. She finds the Malinche character fascinating and dedicates a few pages to her in her book, referring to her as “the mother of the mestizo people”.
