In this episode, we explore the origins and impact of the telenovela. We first look at how these shows were inspired by workers in Cuban cigar factories reading stories out loud to one another, before spreading throughout Latin America following Cuba’s 1959 Revolution. We then dive into the Brazilian telenovelas industry with Taina Silva, who shares her research on how telenovelas have incorporated social issues of the day into their scripts and how stirring subjects like abortion, sex, and cloning have been received by viewers. From there, we look at the popularity of telenovelas beyond Latin America. We explore how they made their way to Eastern Europe and beyond, dominating screens and becoming part and parcel of people’s lives across the world. Now, countries in Latin America are not just exporting their shows, they are themselves importing shows from around the globe as production companies outside the region take the unique storytelling of telenovelas and adapt them to their own, local stories.
For more exciting content and ideas, please subscribe to our podcast and follow us on Instagram (@seasoned.migrant). New episodes out every Wednesday!
Turkish Dramas: Politics in Popular Television
Urbanism: Mapping the Soul of our Cities
Science Fiction: The Social Realities of Imagined Worlds
Chinatown: Food, Migration and Hybrid Spaces
Beauty Pageants: Constructions and Deconstructions of Womanhood
K-Pop: Cultural Power and Post-Colonialism in Popular Music
Literature & Empire: An Interview with Gauri Viswanathan
Muhammad Ali: Boxer, Activist, and Icon
Memes: Folklore of the Digital World
Curry: The Social History of a Globalized Dish
Punk: The Global Voice of Resistance
Bollywood and the Diaspora: Portrayals and Receptions of the Homeland
National Heroes: Teaching Symbols of Identity, Legitimacy and Oppression Through School Curriculums
Elvis Presley: The Complex Origins of Stardom
Chocolate: A Complex Story of Status, Empire and Big Business
The Politics of National Museums: How Countries Choose to Remember Their History
Trailer
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Freakonomics Radio
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
Criminal
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World