The frequency of new telenovelas astonishes me. American soap operas have this tradition of being enduring, indestructible machines, pushing onward and onward through time, evolving and recycling for fuel. When Dr. Acosta told us that a telenovela runs for a bit and finishes, only for a new one to arise later, I had a hard time grasping this. Wait a minute, what makes this different from regular television? I thought this was a Spanish soap opera?
That was the flaw: Spanish classes teach you that the world telenovela translates to "soap opera." How untrue. A telenovela is so much more than that, as we will undoubtedly learn. There are unlimited story ideas, and an unlimited amount of shows to convey them in. This is not a soap opera--it is so much more.
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Estoy asombrado por la cantidad de nuevas telenovelas. Las telenovelas americanas nunca son terminadas, reutilizando la historia y cambiándose con el tiempo. Cuando Dr. A nos dijo que hay muchas nuevas telenovelas, no entendí. Yo había pensado que telenovelas eran el mismo como telenovelas americanas, pero no. Un telenovela es mas que una telenovela americana, con muchas más historias y muchos nuevos episodios.
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Yes, Zak, this is one of the problems. You can't really say that telenovelas are Latin American soap operas, or that soap operas are American telenovelas. But, knowledge is many times constructed by comparison and contrast.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this as well. Last weekend while browsing through Publix with my mom I began telling her about some of our recent lectures in the class. She stopped me in mid sentence and said, "Wait, what does telenovela translate to?" In other words, she wanted to know the EXACT translation for tele and for novela. I wish it was that simple. For the sake of time I told her that it translated to Spanish soap opera but I also told her that it begins with a love story that is perfect, then you have your upsets and tribulation along the way followed by a usually happy ending incorporating the love story again. The truth is that I do not think I could accurately describe all the aspects of a telenovela to someone like my mom who is essentially clueless. I like you Zak, used to think that a telenovela was very similiar to an American soap opera, but after learning about the construction and watching one myself, I now know this is not the case. And I have to say that I am very thankful for that!
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