ABSTRACT
Much like the rich and painful social and cultural history of the subcontinent since the colonial encounter with Europeans, the telenovela genre is also the result of multiple and diverse transnational voyages, encounters, and adaptations across the region. During the 1970s and 1980s, Latin American telenovelas in general, and Brazilian soaps in particular, moved towards “modern” urban vernacular and domestic plots where the main characters and plots addressed some aspects of daily local/national reality. According to Tondato, unlike in previous years, the scenes filmed outside of Brazil during this period were no longer included as a gimmick to attract audiences at the beginning of the show, but were instead integral elements of the plot. Brazilian communications scholar Esther Hamburger traces the enduring local appeal of telenovelas to their “connectedness” with Brazilian reality. As expected, Globo Network rejected the accusation, arguing that it could not be blamed for the real-life conditions that compelled Brazilians to search for a better future abroad.
