According to sociologist John Thompson, the social imaginary is the creative and symbolic dimension of the social world, through which human beings create their ways of living together and their ways of representing their collective life. Therefore, it represents the image that a human group has and projects about itself. German seriousness and ltalian eleganceare part of the imaginary of these cultures. The image of the Valencian people as joyful, with a nopen and relaxed character is part of our imaginary, as well as the Albufera lagoon and the barracas. All this helps to create a common identity but also a standardised image which hides other Valencian realities.
