| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
As articulated by Cruickshank, “signs” were the unifying and progressive forces that influenced colonized consciousness and coerced obedience. As Cruickshank conceived of it, “it is sufficient that the executive should be surrounded by such symbols of his authority as will protect him from insult, ensure respect, and enable him to provide for the ordinary administration of justice” (10).44 Inherent in this capacity to disseminate cultural symbols to underline his authority, Columbus, according to Todorov, was “profoundly concerned with the choice of names for the virgin world before his eyes” (27). The surrounding world takes a meaningful context only in his symbolism. “To the first one [island] I came upon […] I gave the name San Salvador […]. The Indians call this island Guanaliani” (27). The deprivation of both property and language became a common attribute of the colonizing process. This approach ensured the missionary “an understanding of the other’s language and knowledge of the other’s political organization” and in so doing establishes its objective of colonial domination (248).
The epitome of subjectivity of the colonized by which Todorov represents the interlocutor or interpreter, who is also the colonized “other,” raises the question as to whether the interpreter fills a gap that assigns him / her an influential voice. In his view, the identity of the interlocutor deconstructs the monolithic understanding of the conquest. The critical question, however, is whether the colonized had a voice that stood in opposition to the colonizer and could shed light upon the colonial problematic on equal terms. Although the interlocutor may have profound influence in the colonizing venture, his position is construed as exchangeable to the social good, and despite any personal relationships with the system of power, has its legality only at the moment his services are required because the dominant European will “never abandon his feeling of superiority” (248).45 Yet, the interlocutor is resourceful. As part of the cultural conquest, he not only learns to speak and dress like his master, but he also becomes both a source for information and an idealistic product of a religious experiment. As one account puts it, the assimilated—La Malinche’s or (Julian’s) important role as interpreter made her “adopt the Spaniards’ values” and might have helped them in achieving their goals.46