A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão (Spanish and Portuguese words for television), and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel". Telenovelas are a distinct genre different from soap operas, for telenovelas have an ending and come to an end after a long run (generally less than one year). The telenovela combines drama with the 19th century feuilleton and the Latin American radionovela. The medium has been used repeatedly to transmit sociocultural messages by incorporating them into storylines.
Recent telenovelas have evolved in the structure of their plots and in the themes they address. Couples who kiss each other in the first minutes of the first episode sometimes stay together for many episodes before the scriptwriter splits them up. Moreover, previously taboo themes like urban violence, racism, and homosexuality have begun to appear in the newest telenovelas.
Due to the similarities between the telenovela and the American soap opera, the telenovela format is also colloquially known as a "Spanish soap opera" in the United States. While most English language soap operas can continue indefinitely, almost all telenovelas run for a predetermined duration. They are usually shown five or six days a week and run for an average of 120 episodes.
Telenovelas, which are sometimes called "tassels" or "comedias", are produced primarily in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries and are usually shown during peak time. The first telenovelas were produced in Brazil, Cuba and Mexico: Sua vida me pertence ("Your Life Belongs to Me", Brazil, 1950) was shown twice a week, and Senderos de amor ("Paths of Love", Cuba, 1951) and Ángeles de la calle ("Angels of the Street", Mexico 1951) were shown once a week. Between 1957 and 1958 Mexico produced its first drama serial in the modern telenovela format of Monday to Friday slots, Senda prohibida ("Forbidden Path"), written by Fernanda Villeli.
The first global telenovela was Los ricos también lloran ("The Rich Cry Too", Mexico, 1979), which was exported to Russia, China, the United States and other countries. Currently, the best-known telenovelas come from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela. In Spain they are also called culebrones ("long snakes") because of the convoluted plots.
One of the most common complaints about Latin American and Hispanic and Latino American telenovelas is that they are not representative of the racial makeup of the countries where they are produced. Most telenovelas, no matter where they are created, tend to have white, blond, blue-eyed stars. When "ethnic-looking" people appear, they are usually of lower-class origins and hold menial jobs such as janitors, while all the higher-class jobs are reserved for the white characters. This criticism is especially trenchant in Brazil, whose large non-white population is relegated to just a few roles in each telenovela. Other countries, like Argentina (where whites constitute 94% of the population) and Chile (where whites are 95.4% of the population) with high white population, don't exhibit this criticism problem as their telenovelas represent the racial composition of the population.
Telenovelas are not only immensely popular in Hispanic America, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and in Hispanic communities in the United States, but also have a wide following in Russia, Eastern Europe, France, Greece, Italy, the Philippines, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, and Japan. In the Arab world, telenovelas are incredibly popular with families stopping their day from midday onward to watch these shows whose contents often reflect many of the moral and social questions faced in cultures like Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt. The medium has been used repeatedly to transmit sociocultural messages by incorporating them into storylines.
In Argentina, telenovelas are usually produced by Telefe, Artear, Ideas del Sur and Pol-Ka; in Brazil, by TV Globo, TV Record, SBT, TV Bandeirantes, or the extinct Rede Manchete and TV Tupi; in Chile by TVN and Canal 13; in Colombia by Caracol TV, RTI Colombia, or RCN TV; in Venezuela by Venevisión or RCTV; in Spain by Telecinco, Antena3, EiTB (in Basque), or TV3 (in Catalan); in Portugal by RTP, TVI, or SIC; and in Puerto Rico by WAPA-TV or WKAQ-TV. In the United States, Telemundo and Univision, mostly importers of Latin American telenovelas, have started producing telenovelas with Latin American casts and casts of American stars of Hispanic descent and, in the case of Telemundo, Mexican producer Argos Comunicación and Colombian producer RTI, and, in the case of Univision, Televisa and Venevisión (being the owners of Univision)
Due to the similarities between the telenovela and the American soap opera, the telenovela format is also colloquially known as a "Spanish soap opera" in the United States. While most English language soap operas can continue indefinitely, almost all telenovelas run for a predetermined duration. They are usually shown five or six days a week and run for an average of 120 episodes.
Telenovelas, which are sometimes called "tassels" or "comedias", are produced primarily in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries and are usually shown during peak time. The first telenovelas were produced in Brazil, Cuba and Mexico: Sua vida me pertence ("Your Life Belongs to Me", Brazil, 1950) was shown twice a week, and Senderos de amor ("Paths of Love", Cuba, 1951) and Ángeles de la calle ("Angels of the Street", Mexico 1951) were shown once a week. Between 1957 and 1958 Mexico produced its first drama serial in the modern telenovela format of Monday to Friday slots, Senda prohibida ("Forbidden Path"), written by Fernanda Villeli.
The first global telenovela was Los ricos también lloran ("The Rich Cry Too", Mexico, 1979), which was exported to Russia, China, the United States and other countries. Currently, the best-known telenovelas come from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela. In Spain they are also called culebrones ("long snakes") because of the convoluted plots.
One of the most common complaints about Latin American and Hispanic and Latino American telenovelas is that they are not representative of the racial makeup of the countries where they are produced. Most telenovelas, no matter where they are created, tend to have white, blond, blue-eyed stars. When "ethnic-looking" people appear, they are usually of lower-class origins and hold menial jobs such as janitors, while all the higher-class jobs are reserved for the white characters. This criticism is especially trenchant in Brazil, whose large non-white population is relegated to just a few roles in each telenovela. Other countries, like Argentina (where whites constitute 94% of the population) and Chile (where whites are 95.4% of the population) with high white population, don't exhibit this criticism problem as their telenovelas represent the racial composition of the population.
Telenovelas are not only immensely popular in Hispanic America, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and in Hispanic communities in the United States, but also have a wide following in Russia, Eastern Europe, France, Greece, Italy, the Philippines, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, and Japan. In the Arab world, telenovelas are incredibly popular with families stopping their day from midday onward to watch these shows whose contents often reflect many of the moral and social questions faced in cultures like Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt. The medium has been used repeatedly to transmit sociocultural messages by incorporating them into storylines.
In Argentina, telenovelas are usually produced by Telefe, Artear, Ideas del Sur and Pol-Ka; in Brazil, by TV Globo, TV Record, SBT, TV Bandeirantes, or the extinct Rede Manchete and TV Tupi; in Chile by TVN and Canal 13; in Colombia by Caracol TV, RTI Colombia, or RCN TV; in Venezuela by Venevisión or RCTV; in Spain by Telecinco, Antena3, EiTB (in Basque), or TV3 (in Catalan); in Portugal by RTP, TVI, or SIC; and in Puerto Rico by WAPA-TV or WKAQ-TV. In the United States, Telemundo and Univision, mostly importers of Latin American telenovelas, have started producing telenovelas with Latin American casts and casts of American stars of Hispanic descent and, in the case of Telemundo, Mexican producer Argos Comunicación and Colombian producer RTI, and, in the case of Univision, Televisa and Venevisión (being the owners of Univision)
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