Another WOTY Candidate ("telenovela")

[Charles Doyle]

I just happen to have been reading the (beautiful) first story in the collection _An Island Like You_, by my friend and colleague Judith Ortiz Cofer, published in 1995.  In that story, "Bad Influence," the word "telenovela" occurs several times.  The word is used in connection with the young protagonist's Puerto Rican grandmother--but the story is definitely written in English!  I assume the word is on loan from Spanish?  It appears to have been in use for a while by English-speaking Americans.

--Charlie
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---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 08:12:20 -0800
>From: Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
>Subject: Another WOTY Candidate
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
>Subject:      Another WOTY Candidate
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>This one was suggested by one of the regulars on my site (Aldiboronti for
>those that are familiar with it).
>
>telenovela, n.
>
>>From Wikipedia:
>
>"Telenovela is the term used to describe limited-run television serials and
>is derived from the terms tele, short for television, and novela ("novel").
>In spite of their many differences, telenovelas are essentially soap operas
>in miniseries format, with an origin in Spanish and Portuguese broadcasting.
>While most English-language soap operas can potentially continue
>indefinitely - often only concluding when the show had been cancelled by its
>producers for business reasons, such as declining ratings - most telenovelas
>run for a predetermined duration, though there are some long-running
>exceptions."
>
>The first telenovela on a major US network, "Ugly Betty," aired this year.
>The new MyNetworkTV, owned by Murdoch's Newscorp, started operations this
>year and is featuring telenovelas in prime time--mostly English-language
>adaptations of Spanish-language telenovela hits.
>
>--Dave Wilton
>  dave at wilton.net
>

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