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The radionovela genre was born in Cuba in 1935 with "El Derecho
de Nacer" (The Right to be Born), written by Cuban author Felix
Caignet (Martín-Barbero, 1992). This radio soap opera turned
out to be a classic and was considered a radio link between all
the countries in the continent (Mattelart & Mattelart, 1990).
It had all the melodramatic ingredients to reach the audience's
emotions. It told the story of a single mother, living in the conservative
society of the early twentieth Century Cuba. Her tyrant father did
not accept his out of the wedlock grandson. The loyal family maid
takes the boy and raises him as her own. At the end, the boy, who
becomes a physician, saves his grandfather's life (Fernandes, 1994).
This story proved to be a success not only as a radionovela, but
also as a telenovela, with several TV adaptations in different countries
including Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. More recently, in 2001,
Mexico broadcast the latest version of this soap classic.
Following the United States commercial model, local soap factories
provided sponsorship for radionovelas. American companies later
on acquired these factories. Procter & Gamble became the leading
adverting sponsor for radionovelas in Cuba (López, 1998;
Ortiz et al., 1991). The American concept of targeting radionovelas
to a female audience was also implemented. However, the cultural
differences made the Cuban versions favor a more melodramatic and
tragic style. The scripts, created to bring about emotions and tears,
had the goal to sell products. This strategy paid dividends and,
with the help of the advertisers, this formula was diffused to the
rest of Latin America. For many years, Havana was the major exporter
of artists and radio directors, but above all radionovelas scripts
to different countries, including Brazil (Ortiz et al., 1991).
Brazil became familiar with the radionovelas through adaptations
from Cuba and Argentina (Mattelart & Matterlart, 1990). Financed
by Colgate-Palmolive, an adaptation of a Cuban original, “Em
Busca da Felicidade" (In Search for Happiness) aired in Brazil,
in 1941. As previously proven to be the magical formula for radionovelas,
commercial sponsors targeted primarily the female audience with
a melodramatic flavor that was the center of this new genre.
Gessy-Lever and Colgate-Palmolive advertising agencies had their
own radio departments. They would function as production companies,
with their own staff of writers, translators and actors to create
their own successful shows (Ortiz, 1991). The imported Cuban texts
gave place to national creation, molding writers to the future televised
versions. Famous Brazilian telenovela writers such as Ivani Ribeiro
and Janete Clair began working their craft in radio (Mattelart &
Mattelart, 1990). Radio sets became more affordable during the 40's,
contributing to the popularization of the radionovelas, which proved
to be a success among different social classes (Ortiz, 1991). A
clear example of the dominance of this genre on the airwaves was
Rádio Nacional, which broadcasted a total of 11,756 hours
of radionovelas during the period of 1943-1955. Almost half of this
radio programming was soaps, with up to 14 novelas a day (Bonavita,
1982).
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