Cultural translation, global television studies, and the circulation of telenovelas in the United States

Abstract

‘Cultural translation’ is a metaphor whose currency is increasing in the broad field of cultural studies, but it has largely been neglected in narrower field of television studies. This article brings cultural translation to television studies by proposing an approach to describe how the industrial logics that govern the global circulation of programs also shape them as texts. It then uses this approach to explain the circulation of telenovelas in the English-language market in the United States, paying special attention to Ugly Betty, adapted from the Colombian program Yo soy Betty, la fea.