ABSTRACT
In this paper I undertake a comparative analysis of the symbolic function played by national flags and two specific mausoleums in the configuration of contemporary politics in Spain and Venezuela. In both countries there are signs of political instability, and national flags and the two mausoleums I examine (Francisco Franco’s in Spain and Hugo Chávez’s in Venezuela) have become pivotal to the political manoeuvring of different social factions. The comparison reveals that the national flags in Venezuela and Spain present distinguishable types of multivocality, attending to the differential capacity that they have to facilitate identification and mobilization among various political factions. As for the mausoleums, comparison grounds the argument that their extra-symbolic scaffolding (determined by the combination of location, architectural status and management regime) conditions the type of political manoeuvring they generate and the potential efficacy they can have as foci of collective identification and mobilization.
