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Contents 1 Racial and Cultural Identity 2 Venezuelan Postage Stamps 3 See also 4 References

The term mestizaje addresses a nation-building ideology, present in the collective imagination of the cultural and racial panorama. Mestizaje is defined as the notion of racial and cultural mixing, which consists of the complex ideas surrounding race, nation and multiculturalism. Three key areas and concepts relating to the mestizaje are: popular music, religious practice and familial relationships. These key areas serve to further explore and discuss how people experience the process of racial-cultural mixing.

The mestizaje in Venezuela are represented through the embodiment and religious possession of Maria Lionza,. The sacred figure of Maria Lionza emerged in the 1930's and is seen as a white woman among El Indio Guaicaipuro, an indigenous man and El Negro Felipe, a black man. The mestizaje within Venezuela adhere to the religious practices of Maria Lionza, and manage to keep them distinct from what is considered to be an authentic Venezuelan identity. Venezuelans consider themselves to be emblematic of the Venezuelan identity as defined in Las Tres Potencias. The merging of different racial and ethnic identities is not considered to be a real Venezuelan identity. This poses an interesting representation of national identity among Venezuelans, as the mestizaje in Venezuela represent about 67% of the total population.

Through academic analysis, the ideology reserved for racial-cultural difference emerges alongside the "spaces of sameness and homogeneity". The symbolics of origin, found in those indigenous to the land, exists alongside the symbolics of mixture. A valid point of tension is revealed to exist between the idea of sameness and difference in two ways. First, nationalistic ideologies of the mestizaje are assumed to be essentially about the creation of a homogeneous meztizo future, which also opposes the constructionist view of nation-building through racial-cultural diversity. Secondly, the mestizaje ideology is masked as an inclusive process, as most are eligible to become a mestizo, but, it is argued that in reality it is really an exclusive process as it marginalises blackness and indigenous alongside whiteness.

Understanding the key concept of nation-building through the ideology of the mestizaje also identifies the way in which Venezuelans view themselves within the context of Latin America. Key terms and words relating to this article are; hybridity, mixture, homogenization, inclusion and exclusion.

The Venezuelan postage stamp, first issued a set of map stamps that were released in 1896. The Venezuelan stamp is partnered with the Guyanese map stamps, as they historically disputed a border called the Essequibo River territory. Additionally, over 19 different early Latin American postage stamps are studied for emphasis on their inter-country tensions, whether historical, political, ethnic, economic, or territorial. Several Latin American postage stamp images are available to view within a textual context, and many are not available electronically, including the Venezuelan and Guyanese map stamps.

The history of the postage stamp presents a historical context in which popular culture may be better understood. Analyzing these smallest icons of popular culture, Latin American postage stamps are significant to the means of a national and international identity as well as advertisement. Exploring and understanding the various disciplines that are involved in creating a postage stamp, such as semiotic messages, add to the historical, political and popular cultural [1] content. Whether it be national or international, postage stamps also serve to build upon the implications of each. Latin American postage stamps convey and carry historic and cultural messages that may or may not impact it's popular culture and inter-country tensions.

The imagery on various Latin American postage stamps, is truly fascinating. There are vast ranges of themes and signs that are confined to a small space on the various faces of Latin American postage stamps. Historical and cultural implications apply to each. As popular culture is multi-layered in various aspects of mass culture, further examination and critical thought be pursued regarding these smallest icons of popular culture.

• Culture of Venezuela
• Common descent
• Race
• Racial purity
• Racial mixing
• Tradition
• List of people on stamps
• History of Venezuela
• Demographics of Venezuela

• Wade, Peter. "Rethinking Mestizaje: Ideology and Lived Experience." Journal of Latin American Studies, 37:2 (2005) 239-259.

• Child, Jack. "The Politics and Semiotics of the Smallest Icons of Popular Culture: Latin American Postage Stamps." Latin American Research Review, 40:1 (2005) 108-137.