Social Geography Discussions
www.soc-geogr-discuss.net
1816-1499
1816-1502
3
3
2007
10.5194/sgd-3-237-2007
http://www.soc-geogr-discuss.net/3/237/2007/
http://www.soc-geogr-discuss.net/3/237/2007/sgd-3-237-2007.html
http://www.soc-geogr-discuss.net/3/237/2007/sgd-3-237-2007.pdf
237
272
2007-09-11
From political construct to tourist souvenir – building the "National" landscape through advertising in Galicia (Spain)
F. López Silvestre
hafede@usc.es
R. Lois González
Department of Art History, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, P.O. Box Santiago de Compostela, Pza Universidade, 1, 15782, Spain
Department of Geography, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, P.O. Box Santiago de Compostela, Pza Universidade, 1, 15782, Spain
In the contemporary world there is a striking coincidence between the
methods used by nationalisms to foster the identification of the image of
their peoples through their own landscape and the marketing practices used
by public and private institutions to foster certain "mass tourism
products"
through easily identifiable features of the landscapes they want to sell. In
both cases the aim is to highlight difference by means of an essentialist
exaltation, or caricature, of certain elements in the landscape. By looking
closer to the case of Galicia (Spain) it is possible to demonstrate the
validity of this hypothesis. Just as there is a "Castilian" or "Andalusian
landscape identity", there is also a "Galician landscape identity", with
certain topographic, climatic, botanical and cultural elements that shape
landscape and distinguish it from others. However, ever since regionalism
and nationalism first latched on to territory in the 19th century, some
of these elements have been rather over-emphasised. The iconographic
elements that helped to define Galicia's national identity through its
landscape have been kept alive throughout the 20th century thanks to
tourist publicity. Are these elements still used in advertising today? Is
the nationalist imaginary really so different from tourist iconography? This
paper sets out to prove the insistence, by television advertisers working
for the Galician Autonomous (or Regional) Government, the "Xunta de
Galicia", on the <i>Galicianness</i> of the landscape, which is exalted by the use of elements
loaded with symbolic significance.
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