Space and allegory of national identity: Spain as the bull skin
Abstract
Spain is the bull skin. Such symbolic identification,both full and, paradoxically, forced, reveals the very character of representations, by no means innocent or casual, and leads to inquire thee reason or reasons behind such choice, to dilucidate what it seeks to express. The Spanish will to exclusively appropiate the image of the forementioned bit of skin is invested with full meaning when transformed from a mere territorial mark into a symbol of profound resonance in terms of culture and identity. The horned totem projects itself -to the point of fusion- onto the cartographic idea of territory; moreover, it becomes a privileged expression of the nation. This paper critically reviews, throughout the 20th century and as far into de 21st as we got, the array of diverse and at times ferociously opposed ways of making sense of the identification between, on one side, national territory and the country itself, and, on the othere, the bull skin, together with the unforegoable shadow projected by the character attributed to the above mentioned quadruped.Downloads
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