Latin America's Contested Pasts in Telenovelas and TV Series: History as Fuel for Entertainment
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Berlin: De Gruyter (2025), xxii, 381 pp.
"In Latin America, the production of telenovelas and TV series about the region's recent and traumatic past has grown considerably in the last 20 years, affecting societal perceptions of the past, historical consciousness, and political culture. While these TV products are usually perceived as trivial, they do provide a historical framework to a wide audience, which finds it easier to relate to the national past through fiction than through history books, journalistic articles or documentaries. Latin America’s Contested Pasts in Telenovelas and TV Series analyzes the historical culture of Latin American society embodied in telenovelas and TV series from the 1960s to this day. It compiles regional case studies on the televised representation of 20th-century dictatorships in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, as well as the war against drug trafficking and the armed conflict in Colombia. Highlighting the political and social relevance of fictional television, the contributions offer interdisciplinary insights into its discourses and narratives, from the heroization of criminals to the search for reconciliation and the construction of a historical memory." (Publisher description)
Introduction: Latin American History in Fiction, Fiction in Our Reality / Mónika Contreras Saiz, Stefan Rinke, vii
“Any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence”: Broadcasting and Reception of Latin American Contested Pasts in Telenovelas and TV Series of Memory (1968–2023) / Mónika Contreras Saiz, 1
Portrayal of State Institutions in Colombian Telenovelas: The Mediation of Citizenship / Edward Goyeneche-Gómez, Enrique Uribe-Jongbloed, 57
Dos décadas. Dos momentos de una institución: el Ejército Nacional de Colombia en Hombres de Honor y La Niña / Carolina Galindo, 75
Through the Eyes of a Child: Caracol’s Attempt to Challenge Guerrilla Representations in La Niña [Colombia] / Franziska Englert, 99
“Aquel Palacio en Llamas” – Licencias narrativas para explicar lo inexplicable. La representación de la Toma y la Retoma del Palacio de Justicia en telenovelas y series sobre la historia colombiana / Hannah Müssemann, 119
Telenovelas of Memory. A Didactic Experience [Colombia] / Tatjana Louis, 163
Ensayo: Narrar al narco-capitalismo pop / Omar Rincón, 191
O bem-amado, carnavalizando a cultura política brasileira e enfrentando a ditadura / Roberto Abdala Junior, 215
Familiarizing the Audience with Dictatorship – Memory and Mediation of the Collective Trauma of Dictatorship Through the Family in Two Television Series of the Southern Cone [Argentina, Chile] / Karen Genschow, 237
Memorias de una década a través de Los 80. Vida cotidiana, discurso televisivo y democracia de baja intensidad [Chile] / Lorena Antezana Barrios, Eduardo Santa Cruz, 263
Framing the Dictatorship: Uncovering Correlations of Archetypes in Chilean TV Series Using Digital History / Holle Meding, 285
Audiencia cotidiana y violencia: análisis de las funciones sociales del televisor en Los 80, más que una moda [Chile] / Juan Pablo Sánchez Sepúlveda, 325
Historical Walkabout, Returning the Archival Records Used in Los 80 TV Series to the Streets of Santiago / Claudia Bossay, 349
Epílogue / June Carolyn Erlick, 367
“Any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence”: Broadcasting and Reception of Latin American Contested Pasts in Telenovelas and TV Series of Memory (1968–2023) / Mónika Contreras Saiz, 1
Portrayal of State Institutions in Colombian Telenovelas: The Mediation of Citizenship / Edward Goyeneche-Gómez, Enrique Uribe-Jongbloed, 57
Dos décadas. Dos momentos de una institución: el Ejército Nacional de Colombia en Hombres de Honor y La Niña / Carolina Galindo, 75
Through the Eyes of a Child: Caracol’s Attempt to Challenge Guerrilla Representations in La Niña [Colombia] / Franziska Englert, 99
“Aquel Palacio en Llamas” – Licencias narrativas para explicar lo inexplicable. La representación de la Toma y la Retoma del Palacio de Justicia en telenovelas y series sobre la historia colombiana / Hannah Müssemann, 119
Telenovelas of Memory. A Didactic Experience [Colombia] / Tatjana Louis, 163
Ensayo: Narrar al narco-capitalismo pop / Omar Rincón, 191
O bem-amado, carnavalizando a cultura política brasileira e enfrentando a ditadura / Roberto Abdala Junior, 215
Familiarizing the Audience with Dictatorship – Memory and Mediation of the Collective Trauma of Dictatorship Through the Family in Two Television Series of the Southern Cone [Argentina, Chile] / Karen Genschow, 237
Memorias de una década a través de Los 80. Vida cotidiana, discurso televisivo y democracia de baja intensidad [Chile] / Lorena Antezana Barrios, Eduardo Santa Cruz, 263
Framing the Dictatorship: Uncovering Correlations of Archetypes in Chilean TV Series Using Digital History / Holle Meding, 285
Audiencia cotidiana y violencia: análisis de las funciones sociales del televisor en Los 80, más que una moda [Chile] / Juan Pablo Sánchez Sepúlveda, 325
Historical Walkabout, Returning the Archival Records Used in Los 80 TV Series to the Streets of Santiago / Claudia Bossay, 349
Epílogue / June Carolyn Erlick, 367
