Telenovela

Culture, in the context of Sandra Cisneros's short story “Woman Hollering Creek”, is a generalizing term which represents the conglomeration of all the norms that make up the society the protagonist, Cleofilas, lives in. The essence of this is found in that the people who are the most “cultured” are, in actuality, those who have given in the most to the norms of their society. This can be a positive concept if the ideas of the culture that people are being assimilated into is not built on the…

La Patrona is a Spanish-Language telenovela produced by Telemundo, and is a remake of the 1984 Venezuelan telenovela La duena, which was inspired by the novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It was created by Valentina Parraga, written by Eduardo Macias, and directed by Víctor Herrera McNaught. From January 8, 2013 to July 9, 2013, Telemundo aired La Patrona weeknights at 9pm/8c for a total of 127 episodes, replacing Corazón Valiente. It was nominated for and won many awards during…

You or no one else. Because suffering for love is good. The pain is all sweet somehow. In the end” (Cisneros 151). Telenovelas often romanticize the idea of “You or no one,” that there is only one person that we are each meant to be with. Interpreting the message as a command to stay with her husband, Cléofilas endures her misery, believing that “to suffer for love is good…

His context Martín Barbero was born and grew up under a conservative and Catholic-inspired dictatorship that ruled Spain after the Civil War (1936-1939) which implies a divided society and a binary way to understand culture, history, and collective co-existence. Marroquín states that during those early years, the oral narratives about them, and the personal experience growing up under an authoritarian regime somehow marked Martín Barbero’s intellectual trajectory (Marroquín, 2015).…

The classic tale of two star crossed lovers, and no, not Romeo and Juliet, but close, West Side Story. Through music and dance, the homes of American families in the 1950 have been introduced to a modern story of Romeo and Juliet, except instead of the Capulets and Montagues, it’s the Puerto Ricans and the Anglo-Americans. The migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States in the 1950s led to an influx of new community members and as a result, another component of diversity in the “melting…

One of the first ways to sizing the significance of Martín-Barbero’s work and writings about communication and culture can be weighted by the epistemological twist his thinking triggered in the field of cultural studies and communication in Latin America. In short, this spin meant breaking up with the binary ways of thinking, from both Marxism and Functionalism/Administrative traditions. Secondly, the relevance of his intellectual proposal is also based upon the importance he gives to the actual…

In other words, there’s a general lack of over-the-top creativity. That’s where Jane The Virgin comes in, and sets itself apart. This American romantic-comedy/drama TV series, which aired its first epsiode in October of 2014, is based on an older telenovela (or ‘soap opera’) entitled Juana La Virgen, but despite that, each episode carries something unexpected. The storyline follows a 23-year-old religious Latina woman (Jane Villanueva), who is very hard-working, has a passion for writing, and is…

sense of love and family, due to telenovelas being so dramatic and seemingly perfect, all the ends being tied up into a neat little knot. “The dress I want to wear just needs to be altered a teensy bit to bring it up to date. See, I saw a new style last night that I thought would suit me. Did you watch last night’s episode of The Rich Also Cry? Well, did you notice the dress the mother was wearing?” (Cisneros, 221) Many references in the text are made to telenovelas, as Cleofilas compares what…

television show was when the television was controlled by my family adults who only spoke Spanish. Telenovelas, Spanish soap operas were always on the television, so when asked what shows I liked I had to say I did not watch television to avoid having to describe what they were and what they were about. Now I have noticed many of the shows on the English channels have been copied from popular telenovelas. Giving more people to love the stories I loved. For example, “Ugly Betty”, “Jane the…

Sarah Cabral’s work “is as authentic and inviting, as it is sophisticated” -- QUOTE. Born in southern Brazil, Sarah Cabral grew up in a time of great influence from North American pop music and music contained within telenovelas. Despite this, and having moved to the United Stated in the early 2000’s, Cabral never lost touch with the deep roots that exist in Brazilian music. This deep connection permeates throughout her debut, self-titled album, which Cabral also produced. In it she draws on…