Chimneys in the Desert: Industrialization in Argentina During the Export Boom Years, 1870-1930 . By Fernando Rocchi. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006, Pp. xviii, 394. Tables. Appendices. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $70.00 cloth.
Although the essays are sometimes hard to connect to each other, the underlying idea is that all of them fall within "cultural studies," a broad term that covers a wide gamut of theories about Latin American culture: from ideas of national identity and national icons, to differing cultural practices that also define culture and identity, as in the case of football, soap operas and boleros. The individual essays are well written and complex. The volume provides a tour of where and what the discipline is, along the way providing many examples. It serves as an insightful and flavorful guide to current issues of cultural discourses in Latin America.