Living with the Rubbish Queen: Telenovelas, Culture & Modernity in Brazil

An examination of the role of telenovelas - a Latin American sister to the Western soap opera - this book looks at their impact on the everyday lives of Latin American audiences. It seeks to explain telenovelas’ cultural and commercial success; the meanings, identities, and social actions articulated through watching telenovelas; and how audiences - often first- or second-generation migrants in the huge cities of Latin America - use telenovelas in coping with urban life and modernity.

This case study includes a range of 'telenovela interviews' with low-income urban women. Tufte situates this study within the theoretical framework of media ethnography and in doing so, draws heavily on Latin American cultural theory.