# Fiction televisiva



## Einstein

As in many cases of adoption of an English word in Italian, the word _fiction_ is used with another meaning, to indicate a very brief series on TV, commonly in two episodes. Is there a particular term in authentic English?


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## brian

_Mini series_?
_TV movie_? (if it's only a few episodes which, all together, make up a "movie")


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## giovannino

Einstein, I don't think that in Italian _fiction _is only used for very brief series. Take the first hit for _la nuova fiction_ I got on Google:

_È partito domenica 23 gennaio su Italia 1 Grandi Domani, la nuova fiction targata..._
_La serie... è articolata in ventiquattro puntate trasmesse in dodici settimane _


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## Einstein

OK, thanks Brian and Giovannino. For my context _TV series_ is good enough. It's funny that they use the term _fiction_ also for historical dramatisations (maybe a good thing, seeing the content of some alleged histories).


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## You little ripper!

*Two-part movie/series* are a couple of other options.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-au&q=%22two+part+movie%22+

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-au&q="two-part+series"+television


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## Irishwriting84

as to literature, how would you translate "non-fiction works"?

I'd say "saggi" or "saggistica".... is it correct?


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## Pauletta

I'd say that saggistica is correct.


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## TimLA

Hi Irishwriting,
In addition to "saggistica" (as mention by you and Pauletta - Welcome Pauletta!)Corriere gives us "non di narrativa".


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## tsoapm

giovannino said:


> I don't think that in Italian _fiction _is only used for very brief series.





Einstein said:


> For my context _TV series_ is good enough. It's funny that they use the term _fiction_ also for historical dramatisations


I tried Treccani to try and clear this up:





> il genere di film a soggetto, che si contrappone per es. a quello dei documentarî e, negli sceneggiati televisivi, quello che si basa su intrecci romanzati.


I’m not sure I’m parsing this properly. So it’s films based around an _argomento_? Or a _persona_? And _isn’t_ romance-based?


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## Paulfromitaly

tsoapm said:


> And _isn’t_ romance-based?


It can be. 
I'd call it "TV drama".
Montalbano is a fiction, for example.


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## london calling

tsoapm said:


> I tried Treccani to try and clear this up:I’m not sure I’m parsing this properly. So it’s films based around an _argomento_? Or a _persona_? And _isn’t_ romance-based?


It could be anything. All it really means is a TV series which tells a story.


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## johngiovanni

I'd also call it TV /television drama. It is a category within BBC i-player, so it's good enough for me.


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## tsoapm

Righto then. Thanks all.


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## curiosone

Irishwriting84 said:


> as to literature, how would you translate "non-fiction works"?
> 
> I'd say "saggi" or "saggistica".... is it correct?



What about the translation of _fiction_ in the English literary sense? _ Romanzo? 
[_which covers _novel, but _doesn't really cover _fantascienza _or a _fantasy, _though I suppose one could specify: _science fiction novel _or _fantasy novel _or _historical novel]_

Or perhaps _narrativa_ would be the most correct term.

[it's just that I cannot imagine curling up with a good 'narrativa' ]


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## Beluga Lotus

Could/would you commonly describe soap operas as _fiction_? For me at least, in English, I would consider TV series/dramas and soaps to be separate genres. Thanks


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## london calling

We call them 'soap opera' in English, generally speaking. See this.


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## Pietruzzo

Una soap (opera) = a soap opera
Una fiction = a miniseries
Una serie TV = a TV series


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## Beluga Lotus

Great - thanks both.

It seems, in my context (article about Italian TV) the term is being used quite generally to cover all fiction-based TV content: so, TV series (from _Gomorrah _to _Game of Thrones_), sitcoms, miniseries, one-off TV movies, kids comedy sketch shows...

I can't find an English term that is quite as broad!

I'm leaning towards something like:

_"Il mondo della *fiction* italiana è oggi in grande trasformazione"._

> "Italian *fiction-based television (including drama and comedy series, soaps, TV movies etc. - henceforth "series" for brevity*), is currently undergoing an important period of transition."

I might even keep "fiction" in italics, explaining what it covers when it first appears, unless anyone thinks that's too wierd!

> "Italian *fiction-based television (including drama and comedy series, soaps, TV movies etc.), known by the anglicism “fiction”,* is currently undergoing an important period of transition."

Maybe I'm overcomplicating things. 

Any further thoughts welcome


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## london calling

*It seems, in my context (article about Italian TV) the term is being used quite generally to cover all fiction-based TV content ...*

A link to the article would be more than helpful as that isn't in general what 'una fiction'  means.


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## Beluga Lotus

Ah, OK. That's good to know. Maybe I'm misinterpreting things. I'll bear that in mind as I continue through the text (4000 words). Can't share as it's not online, confidentiality etc. I'll have rethink. Thanks a lot.


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## london calling

Could you at least post some of the article? Maybe the bit which makes you think anything and everything is called 'una fiction'?


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## Beluga Lotus

Yes, how about this:

_Ma dobbiamo iniziare con una premessa: a che cosa ci riferiamo con fiction italiana? Dobbiamo infatti ricordare, come prima cosa, una distinzione che a qualcuno sembrerà ovvia, ma forse non è considerata come merita da chi si occupa di serie tv in Italia.  Si tratta della profonda differenza di mercato, logiche, modello di business tra chi fa serie televisive (o anche *tv movie*, diciamo in generale fiction) per le reti generaliste in chiaro e chi le fa per le reti pay. Le serie che vanno su canali “generalisti”, cioè le reti in chiaro si devono rivolgere a fasce di pubblico molto ampie. _[esempi dati: Montalbano, Don Matteo, Medici, Masters of Florence, Maltese]_ Dall’altra, abbiamo le serie che vanno in onda sulle reti a pagamento, e che da noi sono per ora solo quelle prodotte da Sky e Disney _[examples given: Romanzo criminale, _Gomorra, The Young Pope, I delitti del BarLume, Boris, Alex & C_o]

What made me hesitate to simply use "TV series" was the fact the author seems to be putting "TV series" and "TV movies" under the same umbrella (see underlined above) - or am I misreading it? Also, the Disney kids shows (e.g._ Quelli dell’intervallo _- a "_sketch comedy"_), which I'd hesitate to put in the same category as TV series like Gomorrah, Dexter, GOT etc.

I was also thrown by various dictionary definitions of "fiction" which seems to be broader than "TV series".

e.g. Fiction = Insieme dei *film *e degli sceneggiati prodotti e trasmessi dalla televisione fiction: significato e definizione - Dizionari

And the Wikipedia entry which includes *films for TV *and *soaps *https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiction_televisiva
Hence my epic quest for a broader term in English 

Thanks again


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## london calling

Right, so we're not talking about 'una fiction'. 

It seems they mean anything that's broadcast which is *not* non-fiction. In any case while in English we can say 'non-fiction TV' I don't think I've ever heard anyone say 'fiction TV' but I have no problem with 'fictional TV shows/series'.

What do you think?


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## Beluga Lotus

Thanks - that is a very elegant solution I'm tempted to use. It sounds a little bit like a show within a show though, like _The Girlie Show _in the real show _30 Rock._

Maybe:

"fictional television"
but
"fiction-based TV shows"

Anyway, I'm splitting hairs now. In context, it will be perfectly clear.


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## Beluga Lotus

"Scripted television" is one of the terms I used in the end


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## rino delbello

Hi All

I would like to know if the noun* serial *could be another word to translate '' fiction televisiva '' as it contuses from one episode to the next to find out what happens. Or is *it* old-fashioned to convey the meaning and does it have to be replaced by '' TV drama '' or  ''miniseries ''?


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## V. P.

I would just use:  "TV series".


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## tsoapm

rino delbello said:


> I would like to know if the noun* serial *could be another word to translate '' fiction televisiva '' as it contuses from one episode to the next to find out what happens.


Yes, I’d say that’s the characteristic quality of a serial, assuming you meant to type ‘continues’. It wouldn’t be appropriate if the episodes tended to be more self-contained. But probably in any given series it will always be a mix of serial and episodic elements, like long-term character development in a sitcom or subplots within a serial.


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## rino delbello

Thanks both of you a lot.


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