Abstract
Storytelling plays an important role in the functioning of modern museums, which is reflected both in their public presentation and outreach activities, and in the construction of the exhibitions themselves. One can speak of it as one of the basic aspects of museum presentation of historical themes, present both in traditional showcase exhibitions and in so-called new museology.
When examining the phenomenon of narrativity, however, it is also necessary to keep in mind the specific situation of museums as institutions with a high social capital and at the same time interacting with the general public and vernacularized historical consciousness. A special area for investigating the functioning of storytelling in museums is the area of museum presentation of contemporary history.
Although every grasp of history (and also historical consciousness as such) contains a strong narrative aspect, it is contemporary history that can be spoken of as a kind of narratological problem - with regard to its unclear caesura, the necessity to come to terms with the experience of living witnesses, dynamically with the forming canon of knowledge and its interpretations as well as a lively interaction with the present. Following the analysis of the exhibition's treatment of themes from contemporary history, we can single out several "narrative orders" that deal with the aforementioned aspects in different ways.
The contribution will focus on the presentation of different modes of narrating contemporary history, their specifics and their usefulness for fulfilling the differently understood social mission of museums. Following the extensive analysis of examples from the country and abroad, we will try to compile a typology of these narrative orders and reflect on their genesis and potential as well as risks.