Identification and benefits from “soap operas” in the reception of social content

Abstract

Using a theoretical framework from reception analysis, this article discusses the participation of spectators in the construction of meaning, about themselves and about the social environment, taking as a starting point the reception of products from the media. Special attention is given to the quality of the relationship that they establish with television “soap operas”, as an aspect that intervenes in the use made of these works. Partial results of the research are presented here, the object of which is to investigate television and “soap operas” as socializing environments. In this work, social narrative analysis is performed and in depth interviews with the spectators who watch soap operas. Among the ways to build knowledge that arise from this contact; it stands out the approach of referential content of the programs, characterized by identifying as a form of activity and cognitive action of the receptors on the texts.

Key words: identification, referential reading, soap operas.