Un medioevo americano. Spunti e riflessioni su medioevo, medievalismo e la serie televisiva Game of Thrones

The paper examines the television saga Game of Thrones from a dual perspective: what connections can be identified between a consumer product that claims to be inspired by the Middle Ages and the Middle Ages as a historical period; what elements make Game of Thrones, and how they are realized narratively, a product capable of conveying historically reliable and thus realistic images and notions. Three themes were analyzed: the condition of women, the relationship between religion and politics, and war. The analysis reveals that the realism of Game of Thrones is not so much determined by the actual consistency with which these themes are treated in relation to the most up-to-date historiographical research, but rather by the relationship between the widespread perception of medieval civilization and its representation in terms consistent with situations and characterizations peculiar to the contemporary world.