Il religioso seriale. Uno sguardo comparativo alla fiction in Italia e negli Stati Uniti

[Autom. eng. transl.] The subject of the contribution is the role that religion assumes in the genre of serial fiction and in what ways religious themes are included in the popular storytelling of television series, with particular attention to Italian and North American audiovisual production. As far as Italian fiction is concerned, religiosity is represented in products with diversified formats and languages: from 'hagiographic' miniseries (biopics with saints, popes, priests and biblical characters as protagonists) to long series, inspired by American productions. In the North American context, the variety of products and formats is even greater: the prevailing model is that of long seriality, where the religious theme is confronted with more complex and diversified languages and genres, strongly influenced by the cultural melting pot and the 'clash' between civilizations Western and religious fundamentalisms. The peculiar traits and differences between the Italian and American media panorama are highlighted, with a focus on the main titles and the most emblematic traits of the representation of religious themes in the context of television series.