The deadline for submitting papers and panels has been changed to 30 June, 2001.

UK and US soap operas have long been a focus of serious scholarly attention. Now, global dominance of the soap market has shifted to the telenovelas produced across Latin America. Papers and panels analyzing the soap opera/telenovela from a wide range of perspectives are encouraged; papers might explore the narrative, performative, cultural, social, economic, or political implications of this form. Global, interdisciplinary, and international perspectives are especially encouraged.

Papers and/or panels can focus on, but are not limited to, themes such as those listed below:

• Historical development of the soap opera/telenovela
• Historical, national, or cultural perspectives within the telenovela
• The history and development of the Mexican telenovela
• The local versus the global: does the telenovela made for export lose its national specificity?
• Comparative/cross-cultural examination of soap operas/telenovelas
• Televisual constructions of femininity, masculinity, and sexuality; of race and ethnicity; of class; of nationalisms
• Telenovelas in the U.S. market
• Serial narrative form: the postcolonial serial, etcetera
• Telenovelas and social movements
• Ethnography and other approaches to audience studies
• Telenovelas for a new millennium

Please send a typed abstract of 150-250 words, in English or Spanish. Provide the name and academic title of each presenter and give the name and complete address of the main presenter. Include the telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the main author. E-mailed or faxed proposals are preferred; submission by normal snail mail is NOT encouraged.

Deadline for proposals is June 30, 2001. This Area is one of the international activities of the national Popular Culture Association; the Program Chair is Peter Rollins (RollinsPC@aol.com). The Congress of the Americas is the largest congress devoted to the evolving North American community, and this year’s conference promises to be exciting, with cultural events, tours etc. in addition to the academic sessions. Editors of presses and journals rely on the Congress for special issues and articles; it has extensive press coverage as well. For full information about the conference, check the conference web site: www.udlap.mx/congress.

PLEASE CONTACT AREA CHAIR: