TELEMEDIEVALISM: "MEDIEVAL" TV SERIES IN THE LATE 20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURIES

This article presents a brief overview of TV series set in the Middle Ages and aims to show how this kind of medievalism evolves to the present day. The author introduces the term "telemedievalism" to describe the phenomenon in question, pointing out its peculiarities and differences from cineme-dievalism, or the cinematic representation of the Middle Ages. The focus lies on American and Western European TV series of the early 21st century, as this is the most representative period of this theme. The author mentions typical quasi-medieval characters, themes and subjects in telemedievalism. Special attention is paid to the specific title sequences of "medieval" TV series. The series Cadfael, Vikings, Game of Thrones, Borgia are examined in detail as examples of similar or drastically different approaches to the representation of the Middle Ages in popular culture.