Social identity, telenovelas and the reading process: Ten case studies among Hispanics in Texas

Television is an important part of popular culture all over the world. For almost fifty years, telenovelas---similar to soap operas---have become an important economic cultural industry and a significant element of popular culture in numerous countries around the world. Scholars have speculated on telenovelas' social impact, and there is an abundance of studies concerned with textual analysis, but little is known about the relationship established between this genre and its audiences.; For almost 37 years, U.S. Hispanic television networks have aired telenovelas; however, nobody has studied how telenovelas relate to these audiences, what their sociocultural consequences are, and how U.S. Hispanic audiences relate to this genre.; This dissertation is concerned with the study of the U.S. Hispanic audience's relationship to telenovelas. Special focus is placed on: (1) Sociopsychological dimensions of the Hispanic reading process; (2) Hispanics' social identity relation to this genre; (3) Hispanics' daily life relation to this genre; (4) How Hispanics deal with the telenovela's social values and stereotypes.