IUScholarWorks at Indiana University South Bend A Kiss Is (Not) Just a Kiss: Heterodeterminism, Homosexuality and TV Globo Telenovelas Joyce, Samantha To cite this article: Joyce, Samantha. “A Kiss Is (Not) Just a Kiss: Heterodeterminism, Homosexuality and TV Globo Telenovelas.” International Journal of Communication, vol. 7, 2013, pp. 48–66. This document has been made available through IUScholarWorks repository, a service of the Indiana University Libraries. Copyrights on documents in IUScholarWorks are held by their respective rights holder(s). Contact
[email protected] for more information. International Journal of Communication 7 (2013), 48–66 1932–8036/20130005 A Kiss Is (Not) Just a Kiss: Heterodeterminism, Homosexuality, and TV Globo Telenovelas SAMANTHA NOGUEIRA JOYCE Indiana University South Bend This article addresses the inherent bias in Brazilian telenovelas’ representations of homosexual love. Medium- and genre-specific biases such as the visuality of telenovelas are powerful limiting agents of representation. However, technological determinism must be expanded to read culture itself as deterministic to properly account for particular biases in the medium’s use in different national contexts. The key issue is a struggle for a “monopoly of knowledge” over discourses that deem homosexuality as “acceptable,” and one that views it as “unacceptable” and strange. This article examines three recent gay and lesbian progressive storylines in TV Globo telenovelas that fell short in one important aspect: the characters were not allowed to kiss. This article addresses the inherent bias of the Brazilian television medium—more specifically, TV Globo’s telenovela genre—as it relates to representations of homosexuality and homosexual love. Medium- and genre-specific biases—for example, the “visuality” (itself an example of the codes) of telenovelas—are powerful limiting agents of representational possibility.