The expansion of "the feminine" within the Brazilian public sphere: telenovelas of the 1970s and 1980s

• Main Authors: Esther Império Hamburger, Miriam Adelman
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
• Series: Revista Estudos Feministas
• Subjects: televisão; telenovelas; gênero; nação
• Online Access: http://socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-026X2007000100003&lng=en&tlng=en

This paper revisits the wide range of critical literature that, from a variety of theoretical perspectives and with an emphasis on different historical periods and countries, deals with the relationships between mass media and representations of gender relations. This review of the literature focuses on works that are particularly suggestive for our ensuing discussion on the major conventions of Brazilian telenovela, a television genre that blends elements of documentary and fiction and treats the nation in melodramatic terms. Analysis of relevant programs that were exhibited during the 70s and the 80s suggests that these soaps constructed the Brazilian public space in terms that expanded what the industry had conventionally defined as "woman's domain".