Mass literature, the marks of globalization in national cultures

Abstract

The globalization process sets out many questions around a potential culture standardisation. The case of publishing market is not an exception; it follows the patters provided by cultural industries. The aim of this article is to explore the case of mass literature and its flows, describing the best-seller book as a merchandise. In order to identify the mainstreams in this field, we examine and compare books sales recorded during 2008 in four Latin American countries –Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico–. We also analyze reader’s preferences in terms of author’s nationality and literary genre. These variables will enable to consider the influence of local cultures and the power of globalization process indicated by the presence of transnational formats and foreign authors.