Amazon Town TV: An Audience Ethnography in Gurupá, Brazil (Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture)

In 1983, anthropologist Richard Pace began his fieldwork in the Amazonian community of Gurupa one year after the first few television sets arrived. On a nightly basis, as the community's electricity was turned on, he observed crowds of people lining up outside open windows or doors of the few homes possessing TV sets, intent on catching a glimpse of this fascinating novelty. Stoic, mute, and completely absorbed, they stood for hours contemplating every message and image presented. So begins the cultural turning point that is the basis of Amazon Town TV, a rich analysis of Gurupa in the decades during and following the spread of television. Pace worked with sociologist Brian Hinote to explore the sociocultural implications of television's introduction in this community long isolated by geographic and communication barriers. They explore how viewers change their daily routines to watch the medium; how viewers accept, miss, ignore, negotiate, and resist media messages; and how television's influence works within the local cultural context to modify social identities, consumption patterns, and worldviews. In 1983, anthropologist Richard Pace began his fieldwork in the Amazonian community of Gurupá one year after the first few television sets arrived. On a nightly basis, as the community's electricity was turned on, he observed crowds of people lining up outside open windows or doors of the few homes possessing TV sets, intent on catching a glimpse of this fascinating novelty. Stoic, mute, and completely absorbed, they stood for hours contemplating every message and image presented. So begins the cultural turning point that is the basis of Amazon Town TV, a rich analysis of Gurupá in the decades during and following the spread of television. Pace worked with sociologist Brian Hinote to explore the sociocultural implications of television's introduction in this community long isolated by geographic and communication barriers. They explore how viewers change their daily routines to watch the medium; how viewers accept, miss, ignore, negotiate, and resist media messages; and how television's influence works within the local cultural context to modify social identities, consumption patterns, and worldviews. Professor of Anthropology Richard Pace and Assistant Professor of Sociology Brian P. Hinote serve on the faculty of Middle Tennessee State University. Publisher's note Cross-cultural Television Studies -- Brazillian Television -- The Setting -- The Arrival Of Television -- Heeding Interpellation -- Missing, Ignoring, And Resisting Interpellatioin -- Conclusion. Richard Pace And Brian P. Hinote. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [195]-206) And Index. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This pioneering study examines television's impact on an Amazonian river town from the first broadcasts in Gurupa, in 1983, to the present