“It has to mean something…”: Reading the Success of the Italian Soap Opera Vivere

This article attempts to reveal the reasons for the success of Vivere (Living), one of the first soap operas to be set and produced entirely in Italy over the last few years. Both text analysis and audience reception analysis are used to prove a specific hypothesis: that the popularity of Vivere – which is comparable to no other Italian soap – comes from its ability to allow viewers to identify with its characters without, however, giving up the typical ingredients of a Hollywood series, central to the TV habits of the Italian audience. Here, soap operas - the ultimate popular narrative - are considered in their twin roles of ‘anthropological repertory’ and breeding ground for an active production of cultural meanings. The article tries to relate the success of Vivere to the social assets of the country which produces and consumes it, while discussing the social uses of a home-grown soap opera through which the community portrays itself.