| Summary: | The leaders of Réseau France Outre-mer [Network France Overseas] decided to promote the broadcasting of “romance” style telenovelas, persuaded that these programs, produced in Latin America, would be “more adapted to Overseas publics than French, European, or American fictions.” Effectively, these products have attracted, for many years, a very good audience among the overseas public. To better respond to the public’s expectations, the network made a series of gambles, including the translation of dialogue from Rosalinda into Réunion Creole and the production of La Baie des Flamboyant (an adaptation of a Mexican telenovela, Código postal), in the tropical decor of Guadeloupe, with actors from the French overseas departments. This choice of broadcasters turned co-producers did not receive the welcome that they hoped for. In this article, we will first study the reasons for the success of telenovela series on Réunion Island. Then, we will offer a few ways of understanding the reception of “creolized” adaptations of the Mexican telenovelas produced by Televista, Rosalinda and Código postal. How to capture the audiences and make their voices heard without falling into the trap of “ventriloquism”? A question that we will attempt to approach in this text, which is resolutely situated in a sociology of media and of reception.
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