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The first thing I'd suggest is expanding your theoretical base beyond
Schiller's "classical" cultural imperialism/media imperialism model,
which I find reductive and paternalistic, with only the crudest
conception of audiences and patterns of reception (i.e., it's pretty much
the post-Frankfurt School mass culture picture of viewers as drooling,
passive slaves of the culture industry).
 
As a corrective, a good place to start is John Tomlinson, Cultural
Imperialism (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, @1992).  And there has been
some publication on telenovelas in English-language journals--somebody
want to post specific citations?
 
Steve Fore
U of N Texas
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