“What God is that?”: The senses of divinity in spiritist soap operas

Abstract

This article discusses the meanings of divinity in three spiritist soap operas on TV Globo: A Viagem, Alma Gêmea and Além do Tempo. After pointing out the relevance of soap operas in the continent and proposing a definition for the subgenre "Spiritist soap opera", I take three narrative events from each of the plots as an object of study, selecting situations in which the theme "God" anchors interactions amongst characters. For the analysis, I adopt the method of visuality combined with television style, called televisuality, so that stylistic aspects are studied in relation to sociocultural elements. The comparison between the events allows us to notice an evocation of the divine in dualisms that position characters on antagonistic sides, leading melodramatic staging between believers and non-believers. Finally, God is presented in these Spiritist soap operas as a mobilizing agent and divider of opinions, whether in narrative, stylistic and sociocultural terms.

Keywords
soap opera; televisuality; God; religion; spiritism