"The purpose of the present paper is to investigate a spectacular mass media phe nomenon that occurred some twenty-five years ago: The case of a highly popular Peruvian telenovela Simplemente Maria ('Simply Mary'), which to this date is considered by many as the most popular television program of al
...
l time in Peru and in most countries of Latin America. Our methods of data-collection activities in reconstructing the history of Simplemente Maria are described. We explore the reasons for Simplemente María's audience popularity and its several intended and unintended effects. One of Simplemente María's serendipitous effects was the formulation of the entertainment-education strategy in television." (Abstract)
more
"In fact this paperback is about narration and about text in whatever form: spoken, written or printed. Or even better, this book is about the importance of narrative art. It therefore invests all kinds of storytelling, not only the person-to-person oral tradition, but also the mediated forms of sto
...
rytelling. Is taken for granted that the radio is giving an extra dimension to the spoken word, like books are giving an extra dimension to the printed word, or the cinema or television are connecting texts and visuals again, like woodcut printings have done in the past. Stories from the oral tradition found their way to the mass media like movies, radio and television. Therefore a wide variety of media will be discussed in this book without showing any preference for one medium or another. The focus of interest is more on storytelling then on de media used to tell stories. It is about the athletics of words and the flexible relatedness between the various media. All these media make use of characters to present stories. Therefore characters with stereotyped traits are present in every medium that makes use of narrative or dramatic elements like comic books, photo novels and soap operas. Mass media have been taking over the role of traditional storytelling. Nowadays, it seems as if instead of listening to an individual storyteller, the global community sits down and have stories told by their favourite radio plays and television series like situation comedies and soap series. Some social scientists strongly reject this change in media consumption. They regret the changing patterns in spending leisure time. They regret for example the supposed decline of reading habits which has been considered as an effect of changing media consumption. And they are not the only ones to regret this. On the one hand there are the educationalists worrying about the latest statistics on literacy rates. These figures certainly do not show any worldwide improvements in literacy and numeracy. And there are the publishers too, who regret the declining reading habits. On a global scale the selling of books and other printed matter is at a decline. With an expanding media market, people are spending their leisure time in a more varied way leaving them less time to read. However, despite this conclusion the educational system in whatever country cannot do without a structured transfer of knowledge. And it seems that the most effective medium within the educational system still is the written word, being presented to the people by printed materials. Learning children as well as adults to read and write is the main preoccupation of as many multilateral aid organisations as national governments." (Pages 10-11)
more
"Following his experiences in the production of soap operas Miguel Sabido of Televisa (Mexico City) developed a theory as well as practical guidelines for entertainment-education soap operas. Such entertainment education soap operas like "Ven conmigo" and "Acompañame" have been very popular in Mexi
...
co and other parts of Latin America. Sabido's entertainment-education strategy has also been utilized in countries as India, Kenia, Nigeria, Brasil, Jamaica and Indonesia. The book describes the theory of Sabido, explains how to utilize it in the design of education messages, and explains how the audience effects of this approach can be measured. The author is the International Information Manager at Televisa (Mexico City), where she has worked with Miguel Sabido since 1989. She edits Televisa's semimonthly newsletter about worldwide entertainment-education trends in television and cinema business." (CAMECO Media Forum 3/95)
more
"Este libro no mira a la telenovela desde la perspectiva jurídica o económica, sino que la examina a través de otro prisma: la manera como se articulan las intenciones comerciales de su producción con las lógicas culturales de su consumo a través del caso colombiano. Explora el trasfondo de pr
...
oducciones de alcance continental como 'Pero sigo siendo el rey' y 'Caballo viejo." (Cubierta del libro)
more
"Die Telenovela erreicht allabendlich ein Millionenpublikum und hat sich im größten Land Lateinamerikas längst zu einem integralen Element der brasilianischen. Alltagskultur entwickelt: "Die Stunde, in der 'seine' Novela läuft, ist dem Brasilianer heilig. Pünktlich auf die Minute [...] schalten
...
Millionen die Außenwelt ab. Von den Pampas in Rio Grande do Sul bis zu den Regenwäldern am Amazonas verschließen Bürger die Tür, legen den Telefonhörer neben die Gabel und flüchten in die telegenen Romanzen um Liebe und Verrat. In Sao Paulo nehmen Ärzte dann keine Patienten mehr an. .. . In Rio bleiben Restaurants leer, es sei denn die Gäste bringen einen tragbaren Fernseher mit. Im fernen Sertao lassen Bürgermeister den Generator anwerfen und den einzigen Apparat des Fleckens auf dem Dorfplatz tragen" Y "Das Kunst- und Unterhaltungsprodukt Telenovela erreicht und beeinflußt heute Brasilianer aller Klassen, Rassen, Religionen und Regionen. Von der Lehmhütte im Sertao, der Dürrezone im Landesinnern, von den ärmlichen Bret- terbehausungen am Amazonas und in den Favelas bis zu den Luxuswohnungen in Rio de Janeiro und Säo Paulo reicht der Impakt der Telenovelas. Bettler, Bürger, Bauern und Bonzen geraten in ihren Sog. Mehr als Fußball und Samba charakterisiert die Telenovela die Gegenwartskultur des Schwellenlandes Brasilien, wo eine analphabetische und orale Tradition mit dem Analphabetismus des Medienzeitalters koexistiert. " (Abstract)
more