The Telenovela Industry: Markets and Representations of Transnational Identities.

DANIEL MATO

Media International Australia

Griffith University

Lugar: Brisbane, Australia; Año: 2003 p. 46 - 56

1329-878X

&amp;lt;!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 85.05pt 70.85pt 85.05pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --&amp;gt;   <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 85.05pt 70.85pt 85.05pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> This article discusses the process of transnationlisation of the telenovela industry from a perspective that seeks to articulate economic and cultural analysis (social symbolical). Two objectives guide this analysis. The first is to contribute to the theoretical field on globalization through a criticism of the attributes of “deterritorialisation” and “homogeneisation” which are often associated with the idea of globalization without being put to test in at least some realms of experience. Through a close analysis of the telenovela industry, I examine those presuppositions in order to demonstrate both how new territorial references emerge (particularly the city of Miami) and how certain differences are erased while others appear. The second objective is to explore some tensions related to the production of markets and of representations of identities, especially relative to the construction of a “Hispanic” identity. A significant outcome of the analysis of the case of the telenovela industry is that it makes particularly evident the tight interwoven of cultural and economic factors.