El desmadre: counter-hegemonic fervour in Carlos Monsiváis’s 1986 World Cup chronicles

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe 1986 Mexico World Cup is memorialized in terms of two iconic moments produced by Argentine legend Diego Maradona’s on-field magic in the game against England – the controversial ‘Hand-of-God’ goal and the dribbling masterpiece score, unarguably considered to be the ‘Goal of the Century’. However, the World Cup with these dramatic events came in the backdrop of a tragic earthquake that devastated Mexico City taking a heavy toll of lives only a year back. While Mexico’s ruling party was accused of corruption and mismanagement in relief work, the government went ahead with the organization of the tournament. Interestingly, popular protests and movements against the government centred around stadiums such as the Estadio Azteca – the site of Maradona’s famed goals, transforming the same into sites of contestation and solidarity for many Mexicans. Writing at the time, Carlos Monsiváis, Mexico’s most notable chronicler, in his famous ‘¡¡¡Goool!!! Somos el desmadre’ (1986), captured the subversive atmosphere of these sporting venues through fan behaviour amounting to their counter-hegemonic fervour, coined ‘el desmadre’ in the chronicle. This study offers a discursive literary analysis of Monsiváis’s text and argues that both Monsi’s chronicle and his protagonists’ ‘disorderly’ behaviour served as popular discursive forces that challenged the Partido Revolucionario Institucional’s historical dominance in Mexico’s political arena.