An ethnographic study of audience viewing of the telenovela-Kumkum Bhagya at some selected sites

Abstract

The study examines the culture that surrounds the immediate viewing of the Hindi produced telenovela-Kumkum Bhagya at selected sites in Winneba. The study further probes the rationale that informants give for viewing the telenovela at the selected sites and for watching the specific telenovela. Using the theory of Popular Culture, Cultural Proximity and the concept of Third Places through an ethnographic approach and anchored on interviews, participant observations, and focus group discussions, the study reveals that viewers of Kumkum Bhagya cut across various classes on the social ladder reiterating the assertion that, in Africa, everyone irrespective of their sex, age, religion, or ethnicity patronizes popular culture. The study also demonstrates that the major characteristic of the selected sites which is the promotion of informal conversations qualified them as third places which became a motivation for informants’ decision to visit the selected sites to join in the viewing of the telenovela- Kumkum Bhagya. The study further reveals that viewers attributed their selection of the specific site for viewing the telenovela to socialization, proximity, financial constraint and escapism. The study indicates that the use of indigenous languages in the telenovela, the presence of verisimilitude in terms of content and humour and the popularity of the telenovela were predominantly, the social factors that influenced informants to view the telenovela- Kumkum Bhagya. The study concludes that when it comes to popular media products, viewers look out for programmes that they can easily relate with in order to derive moral lessons from them.