ABSTRACT
It is hardly surprising that the spread of soap opera is closely linked for most people with the rise of mass consumption. There is a specific version of this linkage which unites the two in terms of the global reach of American soap operas such as Dallas and Dynasty. The argument is often that these and their “clones” focus on an affluent scion within American society and thereby appear as a showcase for American goods and more generically the American wealth that is juxtaposed with the American “way.” This is seen as part propaganda and part a symbolic token of a process termed “Americanization” in which soap opera seems to form a triumvirate with Coca-Cola and McDonalds as the key symbols of the global expansion of American culture.
