Publication details
Tzv. femininní televizní žánry: telenovela a soap opera
| Title in English | So-called Feminine Television Genres: Mini Series (telenovel) and Soap Opera |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2007 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Vztahy, jazyky, těla: CD-ROM |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Mass media, audiovision |
| Keywords | soap opera; mini series; feminist televison studies |
| Description | As a genre soap opera is very strict. Tania Modleski claims that it is not only the scheduling of soaps that is particularly appealing to housewives, but the narrative structure of the genre as well (Modleski, 1984). She describes women's work in the home as a sequence of incoherent, widely divergent and boundless activities characterized by repetition, interruption and distraction. Women therefore easily recognize and be able to relate to the fragmented and cyclical narrative patterns of soaps. The most obvious structural feature of soaps is that they never begin and never end (Cantor, Pingree, 1986). It is a rigorously narrative television genre with a reporting structure. It must contain many complicated relationships between men and women. There are some taboos as well, for example nudity, homosexual kissing, cruelty to animals or abortion without disastrous consequences (Fuqua, 1995). But we must differentiate between several types of soap opera. There are prime-time television dramas and telenovels (daytime television drama). The prime-time television drama is set in luxurious surroundings, in interiors and exteriors. The characters in every episode resolve a little plot that relates to a main action scheme. In the telenovels every episode finishes with a question mark (meaning to be continued...). The creators of the telenovels usually use just interiors, especially a few invariable stages. In the context of storyline it is important to make a distinction between a family saga, a dyadic soap opera and a soap opera addressing social issues. To the first group belong, for example, Dallas or Dynasty, to the second Day of Our Lives or Beverly Hills 90210 and to the third group EastEnders, Coronation Street or Fair City (the so-called British model of soap operas). |