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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
Show panel list
Indigenising the Western TV soap format in Africa: Studio 263 and its Producers
| Panel |
51. Agency and the constitution of publics in Southern Africa
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| Paper ID | 49 |
| Author(s) |
Mano, Winston
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | My paper focuses on the production of Studio 263 as Zimbabwe’s first major attempt at indigenising the television soap format. The soap rights are owned by Godwin Mawuru’s Afro Eye, a wholly-owned Zimbabwean company. The soap is scripted by Zimbabweans, produced by Zimbabweans and has a Zimbabwean cast. It is a home-made story, an indigenous effort. Studio 263 – whose name derives from the country’s international dialing code - is the story of a young 19-year-old woman named Vimbai Jari. As the soap’s heroine, Vimbai, from a lower-middle-class family decides to try out for the prestigious Miss Zimbabwe pageant. The story is focused on her relentless struggles to overcome ‘different obstacles at home and work, her relationship with her lover, family members, friends, and her financial responsibilities’. The Zimbabwe All Media Products Survey (ZAMPS) reported that Studio 263 is the most popular TV show in Zimbabwe, especially among the youth, with 88% of 11-29 year-olds watching the drama. The messages conveyed by the drama include HIV prevention, importance of self-control and self-respect, understanding love and friendship, unwanted pregnancy prevention, importance of abstinence, the dangers of having unprotected sex, and knowledge of HIV testing. ZAMPS also revealed that these messages influenced 48% of 15-19 year-olds to delay the onset of sexual activity; 33% of 25-29 year-olds to use voluntary counselling and testing services; and 26% of 25-29 year-olds to discuss HIV testing with their spouse/partner (USAID website 2006). What has not been studied is how this USAID-funded TV soap, run on state-controlled Zimbabwean public service television became a regular local production it is, and one that has even been exported to other countries, including the UK. The paper discusses the soap’s production in terms of its attempts to de-Westernise and indigenise a well-known Western TV soap format. |
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