On the media, mass and popular culture in the chronicles of Carlos Monsivais

Mexican writer Carlos Monsivais is one of the most highly recognized intellectuals today for his work as the chronicler of Mexico City, essayist, analyst of the mass media, critic of culture and society in Latin America and, above all, in Mexico. This article approaches the journalistic-literary work of his collections of chronicles from the sixties to the nineties, within which the concepts of mass, mass media and popular culture are central. These are analyzed throughout the article taking into account his critical position, especially with respect to the understanding of mass. At the same time, the particular hybrid style of his writing is analyzed, as well as the importance of paradox as a resource in his critical work as regards power relations and the crossing of the boundaries of dichotomies.