DOÑA BARBARA TURNS 80

It's been 80 years since Rómulo Gallegos published Doña Bárbara. And even though this is a blog dedicated to telenovelas, as an educator, I want to post here a couple of articles that appeared in today's Papel Literario in the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional. In them we can read about the literary novel that is behind the telenovelas and films that have fascinated so many (I apologize to the English-speaking readers of this blog because both articles are in Spanish):

La Poesía Telúrica de Doña Bárbara por Lidia Salas

Foro: Distancia y Herencia en la Narrativa Venezolana (dirigido por José Tomás Angola).

A LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR OF DOÑA BARBARA

I've written before about the distance between the public's perceptions about a telenovela and what really happens in the show's creative process. In particular, there is considerable distance between what the audience knows about the writing process and what actually happens in the mind and soul of telenovela writers. 

Today I bring a document that bridges the latter distance in a significant way. This document is a window in to the mind (and heart) of the writer who tackled the very difficult job of transforming the Venezuelan classic literary novel Doña Bárbara (Rómulo Gallegos) into telenovela format: Valentina Párraga.  This Telemundo telenovela polarized its audience members, who were vocal in their positions regarding the main love story triangle of Doña Bárbara-Santos-Marisela.

After the telenovela's last episode was broadcast, Valentina wrote me a letter where she reflects on her journey writing Doña Bárbara. It's an honest analysis that illuminates the effort behind writing a telenovela and the ever-present tensions between the genre's commercial and creative requirements. Generously, Valentina has agreed that I share her letter with my blog readers. You can read it in Spanish or in English. And, then, let the conversation start in the comments section of this blog! 

LA DOÑA'S END

Doña Bárbara is over. This is a telenovela that brought many "hits" to a post I wrote in this blog, (particularly to its version in  English). This telenovela was very interesting to me for several reasons:

1. It's the adaptation in long format(191 episodes) of a literary novel that doesn't have enough dramatic situations for such lenght. Hence, writer Valentina Párraga did magic in her immense effort to reign the storylines of her telenovela. 
   
2. The telenovela was particularly successful in the U.S. market as it gathered loyal fans who followed every episode.
3. It was the perfect telenovela to watch at the same time I was studying Venezuelan telenovela  La Vida Entera. Both provided fodder for constant comparisons among them, which were very productive for my research process. Both telenovelas included women in positions of power and authority in environments dominated and defined by men.  Both telenovelas developed well a number of secondary plots. 
4. Doña Bárbara has high production values and is an excellent example of the "Telemundo model."  

I wrote in this blog about the difference between the "Doña" that lives in my mind and the one personifed by actor Edith González. This discrepancy was always present. Telemundo's Doña never had the face of Gallegos' guaricha. However, Edith González's performance had such nuances and strenght that I learned to see her Doña Bárbara as a different woman, not Rómulo Gallegos', but one that had a life of her own and a particular magnetism. Even though she was never "my" Doña, Edith's Bárbara made me reflect on the issues of women and power, the definition of the feminine, and the place that betrayal, revenge and sensuality occupy in every telenovela. Edith González managed to project correctly each of her Doña's vital relationships; both the negative ones (her rapists), and the positive ones (Marisela, Eustaquia, el Brujeador y Juan Primito). I believed all of them and all of her.

In Doña Bárbara I was reassured once again that one of the most productive dramatic situations is: mother and daughter in love with the same man. There's always much to tell since it's really three complicated love stories in parallel: Santos-Bárbara, Santos-Marisela and Bárbara-Marisela.

The final episode used all the tools of the genre to remind us why we care about these characters and their resolutions and why THAT is the resolution:  flashbacks, time ellipses, characters talking directly to the camera and special events, such as the wedding of  Pajarote and Genoveva.

The final image was the one I expected: a bongo, the river Arauca heading to the infinite, and the Doña and her beloved dead. It's a Doña redeemed by a new, more luminous, life, and by her ultimate sacrifice for her daughter's happiness. 

A fitting end for a telenovela.

VALENTINA PARRAGA IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS

Last week writer Valentina Párraga visited my telenovelas seminar. She is an intelligent and charming guest who shared with us her experience writing telenovelas in Venezuela  (Viva la Pepa and Trapos Intimos, just to name the two most recent ones) and now in Telemundo (Anita no te rajes and Doña Bárbara). These two groups of telenovelas represent a contrast in style that is determined by the undeniable differences between the Venezuelan and the U.S. audience. 

It's always interesting for me to confirm once again that there is an immense distance between the public's perception (as expressed in message boards and gathered in my research) and the tough reality of writing a telenovela. This distance is encouraged by the entertainment press' trivialization of the telenovela writing job and its emphasis on gossip and rumors. 

From a teaching perspective, I believe that it's important for my students to understand the difficulties and stress involved in the everyday life of telenovela writing, a job that takes over the lives of its makers. They spend many hours at their computer keyboards at a time in their lives that is dominated by their telenovela characters and plots, while they try to win the ratings war. 

Following is a brief video where you can hear Valentina Párraga describing her daily routine as she writes Doña Bárbara:

We thank Valentina for her time, warmth and honesty.

DOÑA BARBARA'S EFFECT ON THIS BLOG

A few months ago I wrote a post about the effect of the final episodes of telenovela Arroz Con Leche on the Spanish version of this blog. 

Today I write on the effect that telenovela Doña Bárbara (Telemundo) is having on this blog in English. The blog in Spanish is not being affected in the same way. This indicates the existence of a significant public whose primary language is English who is particularly interested in Doña Bárbara. We might see in the future a similar effect in the blog in Spanish, once the telenovela airs in Spanish-speaking countries. For the moment, Doña Bárbara seems to be responsible for a "first" in my blogs: Currently, the blog in English is more read than the blog in Spanish.

Below are numbers and charts for both blogs organized in two time periods (click on the graphics to enlarge them):

• July 4-August 3, 2008: The month before Doña Bárbara's premiere
  
• August 4-September 4, 2008: Doña Bárbara's first month on the air in Telemundo
  

For every comparison, I place first the graphs for the blog in Spanish, followed by the equivalent graphics for the blog in English. 

BLOG IN SPANISH-NUMBER OF VISITS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR:





BLOG IN  ENGLISH-NUMBER OF VISITS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




A continuación información de los posts más visitados del blog en ambos períodos.

BLOG IN SPANISH-MOST VISITED ENTRIES-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




BLOG IN ENGLISH-MOST VISITED ENTRIES-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




BLOG IN SPANISH-MOST USED KEYWORDS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




BLOG IN ENGLISH-MOST USED KEYWORDS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR

DOÑA BARBARA AND "THE PICTURE IN MY HEAD"

 Doña Bárbara premiered last night in  Telemundo. I write these lines after watching only the first episode. My purpose isn't to analyze the telenovela. Instead, I want to reflect on the distance between what Walter Lippmann called “the pictures in our heads” and what's outside our heads. 

Like many Venezuelans, I grew up reading Rómulo Gallegos. His novels are an essential ingredient of any school curriculum. This is why there's a picture in my head of  “my” Doña Bárbara. She's not María Félix or Marina Baura.


She's “my” "devoradora de hombres", the one I built in my mind throughout the many readings of Doña Bárbara I've done in different stages of my life. 

There's always distance between "the pictures in our head," when these come from reading a book, and the image we see on a movie or tv screen. There's always negotiation between these images, until we either accept or reject the on-screen one. 

Last night I had trouble reconciling “my” Doña Bárbara and Doña Bárbara/Edith González. I should mention that she only appeared in the last 10 minutes, but I acknowledge thatI had difficulty accepting her. This isn't a reflection on González's talent or the way the character is written. It's a product of the strength of that picture I have in my head which doesn't match González physique and Mexican accent. It's also the consequence of the unavoidable conflation between my Venezuelan identity an my reading of this audiovisual text that is written and produced using the so-called "international" telenovela codes, where we're never told the particular country where action takes place, even though the Arauca River is an important element.  I'm sure that I'm not an isolated case. Probably, many Venezuelans will experience the same difficulties, while viewers from other nations won't have this problem. 

Interestingly enough, I walked seamlessly the distance between  “my” Santos Luzardo and Santos Luzardo/Christian Meier. Maybe because the emblematic character is her, not him. The relationship between "the pictures in our head" and the outside world is complex. It's also a fascinating facet of media consumption: the relationship between identity and media reception.   

I will continue watching Doña Bárbara while I observe myself as I negotiate the distance between "the pictures in my head" and the ones I see on the television screen.