A Study of Characteristics of Soap Opera in Sri Lankan Teledrama (With special reference to the Dudaruwo Teledrama )

Abstract

The origin of the concept of ?Soap opera ? dates back to 1930 in the U.S.A There was something called ?serial format? on Radio which catered to the women and family. They became popular rapidly among the American people. Many American Soap powder companies sponsored them as a result of their increasing popularity. This popularity has remained through a long period and esterblished the concept of Soap Opera which came to Television after some time. This was also called soap opera in Television. There are basically several characteristics of a soap opera (Brown, Marry Allen, 1987) There are as follows: Multiple characters and plots, Action parallel real time, serial form, little sense of narrative closure, Female characters tend to be independent and influential, Male characters tend to be sensitive men, the home or surrogate at a home in the main setting for the show, Emphasis on dialogue, conversation and problem solving rather than action, Simple cuts between narrative strands ,No caption , No Music or other devices to signal change. There are some other traits beside these intrinsic features of a soap opera. They are the prominent leadership role of women in the family, the many colorful ceremonies enacted in the family environment, need to protect the family even if there are some constraints behind it, and life is defined primarily in relation to marriage and the family. These traits are also found in this Sri Lankan soap opera as well. The above features are endemic to present Sri Lankan Teledramas such as Yashorawaya,Dudaruwo, Sathpurawesiyo, Suriyadaruwo and even Wasuda and Chitti. Soap opera characteristics are endemic to these tele-dramas and have gradually acquired association suitable to the Sri Lankan context. As the research methodology we used the Qualitative method. In this we use relevant book reference and content analysis relevant to Sri Lankan Teledramas.