Portuguese Soap Operas: A case study on the emergence of an original production culture

Abstract

In a context of ever greater circulation of televisual content of all genres and formats, this article focuses on the intersections between the global and the local to understand how a specific genre – soap opera – was localised in a specific cultural and geographical setting giving origin to a specific local production model. Our general argument draws on the empirical findings of original research on the moulding of the televisual genre called ‘telenovela’ in Portugal, the specific production mode associated with it, and reflects on its historical emergence and the contingencies of such a process. Our goal is to identify the variables that allowed this genre to gain local dominance and later achieve international circulation. Based on the results of quantitative and qualitative research, we argue that the closed networked structure of the local production and distribution structures and the dominant ideology of the associated production culture promoted the emergence of a resilient local production culture with high levels of bonding social capital that allowed for its sustainability until today.