Major change came to Argentina during the first decades of the twentieth century. Following the mass influx of European immigrants to the country during the beginning of the century, a truly national culture was produced through mass media, facilitating the assimilation of immigrants and their descendants. New forms of media emerged, such as radio and cinema, as did new forms of entertainment, such as tango songs, films, and radio theater. Yet despite the unifying effect of popular culture, the nation remained divided, and, if anything, more so in 1950 than in 1910. This book argues that the key to understanding this paradox lies in a reassessment of the mass culture of the 1920s and 1930s. With a focus on film and radio in and around Buenos Aires, the locus of production as well as much of the market consumption, |