The Telenovela and EmancipationA Study on Television and Social Change in Brazil

Nico Vink

Royal Tropical Institute - the Netherlands

The Telenovela and EmancipationA Study on Television and Social Change in Brazil

Nico Vink

Royal Tropical Institute - the Netherlands

Contents

10 PROLOGUESummary of 'Selva de Pedra (Jungle of Concrete) ISList of Telenovelas used in this Study 18

21 1. TELENOVELAS AS A MAIN TELEVISION INDUSTRY PRODUCT1. Short History of Brazilian Television Industry 22

The Fifties: T.V. for the EliteThe Sixties: Toward a Multi Class AudienceThe Seventies: Globo's MonopolyThe Eighties: Export

2. Role and Influence of Advertising on the TV Industry 323. Role and Influence of the State on the TV Industry 40.4. TV Industry: the Cultural Dimension 43Conclusions and Questions 49

51 2. THE LIFE STYLE OF THE URBAN WORKING CLASS IN BRAZIL1. Life in the Periphery and the Role of TV 522. Social Classes and Social Hierarchy in Brazil 55

Social Class according to Pierre BourdieuSocial Classes in Brazil

3. The Working-Class Life Style: The Household as Unit of Labor andConsumption 60The Common Conditions of ExistenceHousehold ConsumptionThe Consumption of Cultural Goods and Cultural Capital

4. The Working Class as Representation: Class and Gender Images 71Working-Class Views on ClassWorking-Class Views on Gender

5. Family Projects and Working-Class Discourse on Social Change 78Family ProjectsWorking-Class Discourse on Social Change

Conclusions 82

84 3. THE WORKING CLASS AND THE SYMBOLIC STRUGGLE ON VIEWAND TASTEIntroduction: Popular or Mass Culture? 841. Not Popular Culture but Working-Class Subculture 85

The Popular Culture Debate'Cultural Definitions'Artisanal Production and Cultural IndustryHabitus/Subculture and Domination

2. The Field of Dramatic Art and its Struggle for Taste 95Cultural FieldsHistory of Brazilian Theater and ils Distinctive PowerCircus Theater and Popular Taste

Conclusion: a Struggle for World View and Taste 104

107 4. EMANCIPATION, MOBILIZATION AND THE ROLE OF TV FICTIONIntroduction 1071. Working-Class Emancipation via Neighborhood Movements 108

The Actors of Social ChangeParties or Movements?Consciousness-Raising and MobilizationConclusions: Subversion and Struggle for Identity

2. Television, Struggle for Representation and Identity 120British Cultural StudiesCritical Feminists Media Studies

3. A Model for the Study of TV Influence on The Emancipation ofWorking-Class Women and Men 127A: The Production ProcessB: The Cultural Products or Television TextsC: Consumption

131 5. THE CREATIVE WORKERS IN THE NOVELA INDUSTRYIntroduction: Decision-Making and Homology 1311. Telenovela Authors 135

Task and PressuresThe Writer's Position in the Field of Dramatic ArtThe Novela Writers and their Audience

2. The Novela Directors: Social and Artistic Position 1473. The Telenovela Actors 150

The Task of the Actor in the Novela ProductionThe Position of the Actors in the Novela IndustryThe Actors' Position in the Field of Dramatic ArtThe Actors and their Audience

Conclusions: Homology and Subversion 163

165 6. TELENOVELAS AS NARRATIVE GENRE OF LOVE AND CLASS1. Telenovela as TV Genre 1662. The Language of Realism 1693. Novelas as Stories 172

CharactersSettingsSuspense and Ending

4. Novela as Discourse 180Discourses on Personal RelationsThe Housekeeping of FeelingsDiscourses on Class

5. Hierarchy of Discourses, Closure and Openness 192

196 7. THE NOVELA AS NARRATIVE ON OPPRESSION AND CHANGE1. Can Love overcome Class Differences? 1972. Class Oppression and Discourse on Change 200

Images of Class OppressionDiscourses on Change: the Subversive Middle Class

3. Gender Oppression and Discourse on Change 200Images of Gender Oppression.Women Caught Between Subversion and Adaptation

4. Social Change and Novela Discourse on Change 2135. Alienating? 216

219 8. AN AUDIENCE WATCHING WITH ITS HEARTThe Subculture of the. Working Class and Novela Decoding1. Novela Audience: Female or Family? 220

The Telenovela AudienceNovela Watching: a Family Affair

2. Decoding in the Working-Class Subculture 2253. Watching with your Heart 232

Aesthetics and InvolvementEmotion and Consciousness

Concluding Remarks 240

242 EPILOGUE1. An Overview of the Findings 242

The Novela Industry in the Context of Symbolic StruggleThe Subversive Moments of the TV FictionA. ProductionB. TV Texts: TelenovelasC. Working Class Decoding

2. Need for Further Research 249< 3. Political Consequences 249

252 NOTES

271 REFERENCES

281 SAMENVATTING: TELENOVELA EN EMANCIPATIEEen studie naar de invloed van televisie op sociale veranderingen

287 TABLES AND FIGURES