Multiple Proximities between Television Genres and Audiences

Abstract

How can a Mexican telenovela be more attractive to viewers in Brazil than a nationally produced telenovela? This seems to be the question posed by the increasing transnational flow of cultural products. Most of the data indicate that viewers prefer locally produced programs. Nevertheless, some of the transnational success of Latin American telenovelas abroad seems to question this truism. This article argues that audience preferences are formed within the overall trend toward cultural proximity within both national and cultural-linguistic boundaries. However, within this logic of cultural proximity, other forces also apply. It is important to understand cultural proximity working not only at the national and supranational levels but also at the subnational and regional spheres. With this in mind, the authors first examine the attraction or proximity of genres, from the virtually global attraction of melodrama, as a macro genre, to subgenres within the telenovela. Second, they discuss the sense of shared historical experience of specific groups within nations and how this particular form of proximity might operate at the reception level.

Cultural Transduction and Adaptation Studies: The Concept of Cultural Proximity

“…However, scholars have soon realized that the concept of cultural proximity is too loosely defined (La Pastina & Straubhaar, 2005;Ksiazek & Webster, 2008;Uribe-Jongbloed & Espinosa-Medina, 2014). To the extent that "culture" represents an umbrella term, audiences show complex (that is, composite) cultural identities, and cultural proximity plays at multiple regional, national and transnational levels.…”

Glocalized Telenovelas and National Identities

“…Telenovelas as a broader genre are successful because they are easily exported to other cultures thanks to their underlying structure, formulas and archetypes that relate to many cultures (La Pastina & Straubhaar, 2005). However, authors who specialize in the field of telenovela studies often indicate that, although their narrative structures are the same, telenovelas are different from US soap operas (e.g.…”

“…In the specific case of telenovelas, La Pastina and Straubhaar (2005) point out several cultural components that characterize a local focus such as dress codes, ethnic types, body language, humor, ideas about story pacing, music, religious elements etc. However, the success or failure of a localized adaptation lies not in the process of remaking the show, but in the local audience"s process of recognition, identification and appreciation (Moran, 2009a: 52).…”

Television in Botswana: Development and Policy Perspectives

“…Related to the issue of the lack of local media content in developing countries international communication scholars have debated the dominance of American content in the media content trade, specifically through the media imperialism argument, (Boyd-Barrett, 1977;Gordon, 2009;Schiller, 1992;Thussu, 1998), with others demonstrating a decline in the flow of American content to other countries (Fourie, 2010;Thussu, 2000) and some studies revealing a preference for regional programs by audiences due to cultural proximity, among other issues (Boyd-Barrett, 2010;La Pastina & Straubhaar, 2005;Straubhaar, 1991;Straubhaar, 2007). The decline in the flow of American content is also attributed to selfsufficiency in content production in highly populous states such as India, Brazil and Nigeria (Fourie, 2010;Thussu, 2013).…”

“…Local programs refer to programs that were created by Botswana-based producers, whereas foreign programs are those that were produced internationally and were procured by Btv. Whereas the origins of the programs could be divided further according to their specific countries of origin, as is commonly practiced in media and international communication studies establishing the flows of television programs (Boyd-Barrett, 2012; La Pastina & Straubhaar, 2005;, this study does not divide the two categories of "local" and "foreign" further because they provide sufficient data to inform policy making. As illustrated in Fig 5-1, in 2010, 65% of the programs that were broadcast on Btv were internationally produced, and the remaining 35% were local productions.…”