Dramatizing proximity: Cultural and social discourses in soap operas from production to reception

Abstract

The idea that audiences prefer television fiction that is culturally proximate is well developed in studies on soap operas and telenovelas. This article shows how attempts to apply this cultural proximity are made from the production level down, how audiovisual texts are represented and, finally, how this is interpreted by the audience. This study is based on the Catalan television context, applying a close reading of two soap operas, in-depth interviews with producers and focus groups with viewers. The author argues that the discourses on society and culture proposed at production level are received as being ‘proximate’, but that this perception is not just national, cultural or linguistic. Cultural proximity also incorporates educative, cognitive and emotional elements and aspects related to the audience’s immediate surroundings. The work proposes a revision of the concept of cultural proximity applied to fiction, accepting the geographic or cultural meaning of the term, but also accentuating the relationship with the discursive formations that arise from audiovisual texts.