par Jedlowski, Alessandro 
;Rêgo, Cacilda
Référence Journal of African cultural studies, 31, 2, page (135-150)
Publication Publié, 2019-05
;Rêgo, CacildaRéférence Journal of African cultural studies, 31, 2, page (135-150)
Publication Publié, 2019-05
Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | Latin American telenovelas began to be widely broadcast on African screens between the late 1970s and early 1980s, and today are among the most popular entertainment products on the continent. The content, aesthetic and narrative format of telenovelas have become a model for many African video film producers, who have incorporated some of telenovelas’ defining elements in their productions in order to attract local audiences. This special issue analyses the impact of telenovelas’ circulation in Africa by focusing on the ‘uses’ African audiences and media producers make of them. Why do telenovelas travel so well around sub-Saharan Africa? How do African audiences make sense of them? And what impact do these media products have on local media entrepreneurs and on the aesthetics and narrative aspects of the contents they produce? In this introduction we provide some background and data about the history and the political economy of telenovelas’ circulation in Africa, and answer the questions raised above by connecting the finding of the essays included in the special issue to ongoing debates on the global circulation of melodrama, on the transformation of African screen media, and on the performative dimension of African audiences’ engagement with foreign media forms. |
