"Lustro, którego sami nie potrafilibyśmy sobie podstawić". Czeska recepcja "Gottlandu" Mariusza Szczygła

The aim of this article is to analyse the Czech reception of the literary work Gottland by Mariusz Szczygieł. The book triggered much interest in the Czech Republic. There, after its translation was published in 2007, it provoked a discussion about the history of the Czech Republic and the Czech national character. Czech authors' reviews and opinions concerning the Polish journalist's set of pieces of reportage focused on the problem of the spirit of the place, Czech mentality as well as recollection of the past. Furthermore, interest was triggered by the form which Szczygieł chose to introduce the topic, i.e. a piece of literary reportage, which is quite unpopular in the Czech Republic. The author of this article also draws our attention to the fact that the book received very positive reviews and that the history of the Czech Republic as well as Czechoslovakia described from a Pole's perspective was found, in most cases, of high quality and enriching.