El Verdadero Espíritu De Los Peruanos
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Reading Costumbres – El Verdadero Espíritu de los Peruanos: A Semiotic Analysis of a Peruvian TV Program A thesis presented to the faculty of the Center for International Studies of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Hernán Medina Jiménez August 2010 © 2010 Hernán Medina Jiménez. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Reading Costumbres – El Verdadero Espíritu de los Peruanos: A Semiotic Analysis of a Peruvian TV Program by HERNÁN MEDINA JIMÉNEZ has been approved for the Center for International Studies by Karen E. Riggs Professor of Media Arts and Studies José A. Delgado Director, Latin American Studies Daniel Weiner Executive Director, Center for International Studies 3 ABSTRACT Medina Jiménez, Hernán., M.A., August 2010, Latin American Studies Reading Costumbres – El Verdadero Espíritu de los Peruanos: A Semiotic Analysis of a Peruvian TV Program (148 pp.) Director of Thesis: Karen E. Riggs This thesis analyzes the TV program Costumbres and the different meanings between the opening credits and the TV program’s content. To ensure that the analysis remains concrete, the episode chosen was Mi Santa Cruz, Pueblo de Amor—literally, “Saint Cross of Andamarca, my Home Town”—broadcast on Peruvian Public Broadcasting on 2007. Despite the fact that the opening credits repeat the same images of the TV program, the study argues that both products―the opening credits and the TV program―are essentially different because the former creates a different structure and a different concept throughout the editing process. In general, whereas each TV program addresses only one traditional festivity, the opening credits consist of a collection of excerpts from different TV episodes whose plot can be seen repeatedly by the audience every time the program is on the air. In this sense, in order to explore the content of these visual samples, the theoretical and methodological roots of this thesis are grounded in the tradition of cultural studies. The primary frameworks that I appropriate, therefore, are semiotics, ideological criticism and critical pedagogy. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Karen E. Riggs Professor of Media Arts and Studies 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to the Chair of my Thesis Committee, Karen E. Riggs, Professor of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University, for her insightful comments, guidance and academic support throughout the whole process of studying and researching of this thesis. Thanks Karen for helping me and inspiring me to be professional and disciplined, key factors in any qualitative studies. My sincere thanks also go to my Thesis Committee: José Delgado-Costa, Director of the Latin American Studies program, and Rafael Obregón, Director of Communication and Development at Ohio University, for their constructive criticism and excellent advice during the preparation of this thesis. I also owe my deepest gratitude to Dr. Betsy Partyka who not only encouraged me to pursue a double master’s degree in Latin American Studies and Spanish Literature, but who also was the first volunteer to be the final editor of this thesis. Thanks Dr. Partyka for your enthusiasm, your patience, and continually encouraging your students. Finally, I am heartily thankful to my family, my parents Hernán and Judith, and my sisters Shirley and Patricia, for being the most beautiful family a person can have in life. In addition, I especially want to thank Tatiana Argüello Vargas, my beloved nica, because this thesis would not have been possible without her. Thanks Tatiana for being part of this academic adventure, and beginning this adventure with me. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 4 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... 7 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1: Introduction Historical Development of Costumbres ‘El verdadero espíritu de los Peruanos’ ................................................................................................................. 9 1.1 Contextualizing ‘Costumbres’: The Peruvian Broadcasting .................................... 9 1.2. The TV Show: Costumbres-El verdadero espíritu de los Peruanos ..................... 12 1.3. Costumbres-The TV program ................................................................................ 13 1.3.1. Origin, Genre and Staff ................................................................................... 13 1.3.2. The TV Concept .............................................................................................. 15 1.3.2.1 Goals and Objectives ................................................................................ 15 1.3.2.2 The TV Program Name ............................................................................. 16 1.3.2.3 The TV Promotion .................................................................................... 18 1.3.3. Program Format and Television Style ............................................................ 20 1.3.3.1 Visual Design ............................................................................................ 21 1.3.3.2 Sound Design ............................................................................................ 22 1.3.4. Television Prizes and Acknowledgments ....................................................... 23 Chapter 2: The Qualitative Research Design .................................................................... 26 2.1 Research Question and Methodology ..................................................................... 26 2.1.1 Research Question ........................................................................................... 26 2.1.2 The Sample ...................................................................................................... 28 2.2. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................... 30 2.2.1. Semiotics ......................................................................................................... 31 2.2.2. Ideological Criticism ....................................................................................... 38 2.3 The Research Methodology .................................................................................... 43 2.3.1 Textual Analysis .............................................................................................. 44 Chapter 3: Paradigmatic Reading of “Costumbres” (TV Program) the Opening Credits 47 3.1. The Opening Credits .............................................................................................. 47 6 3.1.1. Outline of the Opening credits ........................................................................ 48 3.2. Paradigmatic Analysis of the Opening Credits ...................................................... 53 3.2.1 Level One: Reality ........................................................................................... 54 3.2.1.1 First Sequence: The Indigenous Community ............................................ 54 3.2.2 Level Two: Representation .............................................................................. 64 3.2.2.1 Camerawork .............................................................................................. 64 3.2.2.2 Lighting and Editing ................................................................................. 66 3.2.2.3 Sound and Music....................................................................................... 67 3.2.3 Level Three: Ideology ...................................................................................... 69 3.2.1.1 Second Sequence: The Notion of Leisure ................................................. 71 Chapter 4: Paradigmatic Reading of Costumbres Episode “Mi Santa Cruz de Andamarca, Pueblo de Amor”............................................................................................................... 79 4.1. Structure of the episode “Santa Cruz de Andamarca” ........................................... 79 4.1.1. Outline of the Episode Mi Santa Cruz, Pueblo de Amor ................................ 81 4.2 Paradigmatic analysis of the episode “Santa Cruz de Andamarca” ........................ 90 4.2.1. The Setting: Environment and Space .............................................................. 92 4.2.1.1 Mapping Santa Cruz de Andamarca ......................................................... 92 4.2.1.2 The Public Space and the Production of Space ........................................ 96 4.2.1.2 Props ....................................................................................................... 106 4.2.1.3 Codes of Dress ........................................................................................ 117 4.2.1.4 Codes of Non-verbal Communication .................................................... 122 Chapter 5: Conclusions ................................................................................................... 129 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................