THE CHOSEN AND ADAPTATION AS RECREATION

PALIMPSEST AND NARRATIVE EXPANSION IN THE AUDIOVISUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE

Abstract

This article analyzes the television series The Chosen (Dallas Jenkins, 2017) as an adaptation of the biblical narrative, investigating how the work establishes processes of reinterpretation, narrative expansion, and intertextual dialogue with its source text. The study is primarily grounded in Linda Hutcheon's adaptation theory, complemented by the contributions of Umberto Eco, Gérard Genette, Antonio Candido, and Christian Metz. It argues that adaptation should not be understood as a faithful reproduction of the original text but rather as a creative process of interpretation and aesthetic reconfiguration capable of generating new meanings while maintaining a dialogical relationship with its source. Adopting a qualitative, bibliographical, and analytical approach, the article examines how The Chosen expands episodes and characters found in the Gospels by exploring narrative gaps and developing dramatic contexts absent from the biblical text. The findings demonstrate that the series constitutes an autonomous and palimpsestic work whose narrative expansion enriches the psychological development of its characters and broadens the interpretative possibilities of the Gospel narrative, confirming adaptation as a legitimate form of artistic creation and cultural renewal.