A telenovela[a] is a type of a limited-run television serial drama or
soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines tele
(for "television")[b] and novela (meaning "novel").[c] Similar genres
around the world include teleserye (Philippines), téléroman (Canada,
specifically Quebec), or simply dramas (rest of Asia including the
Middle East).Commonly described using the American colloquialism
Spanish soap opera, many telenovelas share some stylistic and thematic
similarities to the soap opera familiar to the English-speaking world.
The significant difference is their series run length; telenovelas
tell one self-contained story, typically within the span of a year or
less whereas soap operas tend to have intertwined storylines told
during indefinite, continuing runs. This makes them shorter than most
other television series, but still much longer than a miniseries. This
planned run results in a faster-paced, more concise style of melodrama
compared to a typical soap opera. Episodes of telenovelas usually last
between 30 and 45 minutes, and rarely more than an hour, except for
final episodes. The telenovela combines drama with the 19th-century
feuilleton, and naturally evolved from the Latin American radionovela,
according to Blanca de Lizaur.The medium has been used frequently by
authorities in various countries to transmit sociocultural messages by
incorporating them into storylines. By the 1970s and 1980s, Mexico
became a world pioneer in using telenovelas to shape behavior,
particularly successful in introducing the idea of family planning.
Mexico and Brazil later, in the 1990s, played a key role in the
international export of telenovelas, thus the so-called 'Telenovela
Craze' that spread in many regions in the world until today.
soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines tele
(for "television")[b] and novela (meaning "novel").[c] Similar genres
around the world include teleserye (Philippines), téléroman (Canada,
specifically Quebec), or simply dramas (rest of Asia including the
Middle East).Commonly described using the American colloquialism
Spanish soap opera, many telenovelas share some stylistic and thematic
similarities to the soap opera familiar to the English-speaking world.
The significant difference is their series run length; telenovelas
tell one self-contained story, typically within the span of a year or
less whereas soap operas tend to have intertwined storylines told
during indefinite, continuing runs. This makes them shorter than most
other television series, but still much longer than a miniseries. This
planned run results in a faster-paced, more concise style of melodrama
compared to a typical soap opera. Episodes of telenovelas usually last
between 30 and 45 minutes, and rarely more than an hour, except for
final episodes. The telenovela combines drama with the 19th-century
feuilleton, and naturally evolved from the Latin American radionovela,
according to Blanca de Lizaur.The medium has been used frequently by
authorities in various countries to transmit sociocultural messages by
incorporating them into storylines. By the 1970s and 1980s, Mexico
became a world pioneer in using telenovelas to shape behavior,
particularly successful in introducing the idea of family planning.
Mexico and Brazil later, in the 1990s, played a key role in the
international export of telenovelas, thus the so-called 'Telenovela
Craze' that spread in many regions in the world until today.
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