Jak zacházejí s minulostí čtenáři historických bestsellerů? Sonda do recepce Bílé Vody Kateřiny Tučkové

The study examines how readers use history when reading novels about the past. It focuses on two contemporary Czech historical bestsellers Bílá Voda (2022) and Šikmý kostel (2020). The reception examples are from the online reading platform Databazeknih.cz. The author relates the research of the reception of historical bestsellers to the issues discussed in contemporary memory studies. He is primarily interested in how new ways of digital communication contribute to changing shared ideas about the past. A probe into the reception of two historical bestsellers confirms that traditional ways of historical thinking (cause and consequence, continuity and change) are receding and a presentist relationship to the past based on emotions is gaining ground. The case study confirms the thesis about presentism and the dynamics of contemporary cultural memory formulated by François Hartog, Astrid Erll and Andrew Hoskins.