This book presents a semiotic study of the re-elaboration of Christian narratives and values in a corpus of Italian novels published after the Second Vatican Council (1960s). It tackles the complex set of ideas expressed by Italian writers about the biblical narration of human origins and traditional religious language and ritual, the perceived clash between the immanent and transcendent nature and role of the Church, and the problematic notion of sanctity emerging from contemporary narrative.

• Acknowledgements 6
• Contents 8
• Introduction 10
• 1. Semiotic Ideology and Religious Themes in Italian Fiction 23
• 2. Literary Representations of Rituals and Liturgical Latin 55
• 3. The Thematic Role of the Pope, between Immanence and Transcendence 93
• 4. Atypical Models of Sanctity 130
• Conclusion 171