An ethnographic approach to the reception of telenovelas: some reflections on research methods

Authors

  • Thaïs Machado-Borges

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30962/ec.190

Keywords:

Telenovelas, Estudos de recepção, Audiência, Vida cotidiana, Etnografia

Abstract

Brazilian telenovelas are broadcast throughout Brazil six days a week during prime time. Everyday, they attract an audience of more than forty million viewers. They also attract millions of dollars of advertising revenue and promote a range of commodities and desires that are made available for television viewers. Several studies on the reception of Brazilian telenovelas have considered viewers’ reactions to and interpretations of the plots of telenovelas. Having decided to research about the impact these programs have on people’s lives, I was confronted with a crucial question: how to proceed in order to obtain qualitative information about the reception of telenovelas? In this article, I discuss and reflect on some methodological questions with which I had to deal during my research process. Here I argue that a complete analysis of viewers’ reception of telenovelas should take into account the way telenovelas are integrated and implicated within other media and within events of daily life. Ethnographic fieldwork makes such an approach possible.

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How to Cite

Machado-Borges, T. (2007). An ethnographic approach to the reception of telenovelas: some reflections on research methods. E-Compós, 10. https://doi.org/10.30962/ec.190

Issue

Vol. 10 (2007)

Section

Special Issue

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