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Producing Meanings in a Soap Opera: Making Appropriate Femininities

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Soap Operas, Gender and the Sri Lankan Diaspora

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Abstract

Cultural workers do not operate in a vacuum when they design media messages. Sri Lankan soap operas known as mega teledramas are targeted at a predominantly female audience and embed messages of womanhood that are constructed on nationalist sensibilities of media producers. In this chapter, semi-structured in-depth interviews with Sri Lankan soap opera scriptwriters, directors and producers are analysed to understand how they construct meanings in mega teledrama narratives. The economic, cultural and social purposes that shape the production of the narratives are discussed to situate the technical, financial, artistic and ideological processes that influence the products of cultural workers. As women are the primary audience of soap operas and female heroines take priority in the narratives, this chapter shows the gendered nature of creative decision-making processes for producing certain kinds of female bodies, freedoms and expressions on television. This chapter provides a basis to locate the interpretations, resistances and pleasures of the audiences of women watching soap operas in Colombo and Melbourne discussed in Chaps. 3 and 4.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hindustan Times. 2010. Mandira Bedi still ‘Shanti’ for Sri Lankans. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/tv/mandira-bedi-still-shanti-for-sri-lankans/story-KUdyQW0mMAV3xPbhHtDQPJ.html. Accessed 15 November 2020.

  2. 2.

    The Economic Times. 2006. Now playing: ‘Shriman Shrimati’ in Sinhalese. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/now-playing-shriman-shrimati-in sinhalese/articleshow/1513281.cms. Accessed 26 October 2020.

  3. 3.

    Sunday Times. 2003. Mahagedara: new tele series on Sirasa TV. Sunday Times. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/030914/tv/6.htm. Accessed 17 November 2020.

  4. 4.

    Sunday Observer. 2006. Upclose and personal Praveena. Sunday Observer. http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2006/03/26/fea23.html. Accessed 11 November 2020.

  5. 5.

    Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. 2006. Inland Revenue Department. http://www.ird.gov.lk/en/publications/Acts_Other%20Levies%20%20Taxes/FActNo.11[E]2006.pdf. Accessed 17 November 2020.

  6. 6.

    Rodrigo, Lakmini. 2006. Lucky streak—two decades of success. Daily News. http://archives.dailynews.lk/2006/03/25/fea14.asp. Accessed 10 November 2020.

  7. 7.

    Thilakarathne, Indeewara. 2007. Batti passes 150th milestone. Sunday Observer. http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2007/10/14/spe08.asp. Accessed 10 November 2020.

  8. 8.

    See Jayawardene 2000 for a detailed historical analysis of the development of the postcolonial bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka.

  9. 9.

    Sri Lanka Guardian. 2008. Religious leaders and artists protest against ‘Mega Teledramas’. Sri Lanka Guardian. http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/09/religious-leaders-and-artistes-protest.html. Accessed 1 November 2020.

  10. 10.

    Daily News. 2006. Tharu Kumari on Rupavahini. Daily News. http://archives.dailynews.lk/2006/03/27/PrintPage.asp?REF=/2006/03/27/fea08.asp. Accessed 12 November 2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Inquiry, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia

    Shashini Gamage

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Gamage, S. (2021). Producing Meanings in a Soap Opera: Making Appropriate Femininities. In: Soap Operas, Gender and the Sri Lankan Diaspora. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70632-6_2

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