Identity and representations in a globalized world. The condor: cultural familiarity and diverse identities

Abstract

The condor is a common presence that flies over and then settles in our mental territory, like a part of that symbolic memory that is fed for generations through the oral transmition.  These images –visual and oral- reiterate themselves through time since immemorial story up to 21st century’s communication networks.  In that context, the condor   -more as symbol that like tangible natural patrimony- instigates an affinity of acquired views and identifications, that converge in stones, caverns, rites, utilitarian objects, heraldry, numismatics, philately, consumer’s goods, images in cyberspace: from the sacred bird, to the institutional national bird; from the sordidness of  ‘Operation Condor’ to the comic character represented by Condorito.  In humor and in horror.  In reverence and irreverence.  In everyday events.  In the cultural atmosphere, the condor is part of the “breathing” of our common imaginary.