Novel's Success (Technological)

{Technological changes}

The book format in which this novel was first published led to the existence of other media formats that reached more audiences and sparked an interest in reading for many, as well as an interest for the Brazilian culture and its people. 

This book is from the start filled with characters that represent the nation Jorge Amado knew, written with simpler and colloquial expressions that allow him to approach a larger amount of audience. This was also possible as it is a novel to which many people from around the world could relate in one way or another since it touches upon themes of freedom, fighting for rights, happiness and sensuality.

For this and many other reasons, this novel has been a great success in many countries and has now several editions. It is one of the most translated works in Portuguese with more than 35 languages. Certain academic associations like Fundacao Casa de Jorge Amado preserve and study the work of the novelist. To add to this Gabriela has seen along the years constant adaptations to the cinema, TV, comic books and music. 

As an example of that success, I will talk about the effects of the transmission of this narrative in a country that benefited immensely from it through one other media format: the television.

A Portuguese Tale

In 1977, Portugal starts a transition period after the revolution years of 1974-1976. This is a period where political crises are constant. It is also a period where the dictatorial regime of Salazar and Caetano had come to an end - the first year of the Republic of Portugal.

In that same year, the telenovela* based on the novel Gabriela Cravo e Canela aired in Portugal, 2 years after it did in Brazil. While the telenovela was also of great impact in its country of origin, its after-life in Portugal was more evident and impactful.

 

In fact, Portugal was not the same after Gabriela.

 

This telenovela was based on the novel written by Amado and left indelible impressions in Portuguese society. It had as main star Sonia Braga as Gabriela, but made famous other Brazilian actors like Jose Wilker, Armando Bogus and Paulo Gracindo. It was directed in 1975 by Walter Avancini and it became an instantaneous success in Portugal with a large number of audiences, and the adoption of names and words used in Brazil, as well as social behaviour. It was ultimately important in the change of mentality for the viewers, broadening the views of the Portuguese population in general. 

This was the first telenovela airing in Portugal and also one of great quality; streets were abandoned during its broadcast. The quality and success were such that even governors, ministers, and even the prime-minister would create their schedules around the episode's time, so they could watch Gabriela. It aired for 6 months and reached 4 million viewers, despite the lack of TV sets – there was an average of 150 for every 1000 inhabitants. 

*Telenovela =  drama series generally based on a novel; similar to a soap opera but it has Latin-American origins.

Points of influence

  • Language

Some expressions and grammar characteristics from the Portuguese spoken in Brazil were slowly integrated into the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. Some terms that were considered archaic in Portugal but still used in Brazil were brought back [such as the salutation “inte”(Braz) which is a short form of ate logo(see you later)].In some regions, the more powerful people started to be known by “coronel” such as those in the telenovela.

For the Portuguese, this was a sudden realization that there was another form of Portuguese spoken on the other side of the Atlantic. 

  • Behaviour and the female place in society

The broadcasting of Gabriela was a good exposure to new behaviours that would allow the Portuguese to leave behind the prejudices and stigmas that were cultivated during the dictatorship. 

Most articles and critics at the time were about the female characters of Gabriela since they are the ones interpreting main and secondary roles. This is surprising to the Portuguese public and the image of the woman represented in the telenovela startles discussions about the exaggerated sensuality of the tropical woman – a recurrent theme in the colonial and post-colonial Portuguese "mythology". Nonetheless, the women in Gabriela present not only new aesthetic models for women but also new ethics of female behaviour founded in the valorization of physical and intellectual characteristics. These models will be copied and adapted by Portuguese women contributing to the emergence of new behaviours in relationships. These and the narrative also incentivized Portuguese women to break away from the models defined during the past regime that saw the woman as the one responsible for the family, their home and Catholic morals.

  • New Customs

Gabriela was aired during prime time, coinciding with dinner time where family gathered after a day of work. It created the habit of watching Brazilian telenovelas in family and those who had no tv would gather in coffee shops or in public establishments to follow the episodes.

  • New Media and Genre

This genre of entertainment was completely new to Portugal. In Brazil, telenovelas of great quality were already being broadcasted for a longer time and were seen as works of art.

This telenovela increased the interest in TV content and opened up the potential for dozens of Brazilian telenovelas that were later aired on Portuguese channels. This also coerced the Portuguese to try and produce their own telenovelas. Also, more people read Amado’s novels since then, and Gabriela became a bestseller in the Boof Fair of Lisbon from that year (1977). 

Through this we can see how influential an audiovisual format would have been in a country where around 40% of the population did not know how to read. It was then given to the telenovela as wells as to the TV, the power to educate or uneducated; to help expand literary works and to diminish its use. 

Although the telenovela influenced the reading of many Portuguese, this product of mass media should be distinguished from the literary work of Amado, considering that both have very different languages due to the demands of their distinct publics.

Relation to the "self"

The Portuguese society was transformed: it adopted the Brazilian accent as a second language, adopted customs and habits, idioms, expressions and artistic demonstrations. But in this adoption of new ideas, it also found similarities. Among its scenarios that multiplied and converged in brilliant creative models, there was a sister culture where they saw themselves reflected in a very clear way.

Ilheus is not a strange land for many Portuguese either nor so are coronels. All these were common themes in Portugal: the fight for the fall of the “established order”, repression, misogynism, the fight for dignity and freedom as well as a denouncement of the corruption of power roles. For this audience, there were many similarities with the fascist situation that Portugal lived in for almost half-century. 

Other media

Gabriela Cravo e Canela changes the path of Portuguese TV and simultaneously anticipates and symbolizes the emergence of a new society and lifestyles centred around media and consumption.

Portuguese newspapers start to recognize this new telenovela as a particular format of the fictional genre of Latin American. This is the beginning of a phenomenon where cultural industry and the massification of television’s audience benefit from a common language, but also from a common "imaginarium"  of myths, heroes, events, landscapes and memories easily identified by all Portuguese. After the success of the telenovela MBP – Popular Brazilian Music - follows and generates favourable conditions for the introduction of other Brazilian media products. 

The telenovela creates in Portugal, under a very specific socio-political context, cohesion and social consensus through a "basic unit" of audience - the family during its daily – allowing for cultural and political mediation between different social groups.

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Novel's Success (Technological)