Přehled o publikaci

The paper examines the relationship between digitally mediated representations of culturally significant places and the physical experience of visiting them. Using the case of game-induced pilgrimage to the historic Czech city of Kutná Hora, prompted by Kingdom Come and discussed within a large Discord community, the paper introduces the concept of the Dissociative Gap. This concept describes the mismatch between an imagined, immersive, media-based model of place and the pragmatic reality of contemporary urban space. The paper argues that visitors may arrive with expectations shaped by virtual representations, platform discourse, and community recommendations, and subsequently evaluate the physical city against this mediated model. Methodologically, the paper presents a reflexive GenAI-assisted workflow for deductive thematic analysis of platform data. Generative AI is not treated as a source of findings, but as a supporting tool for organising material, proposing descriptive codes, and assisting with pattern recognition. Interpretation, thematic validation, and meaning-making remain human-led. Empirically, the analysis combines field responses from visitors to Kutná Hora with curated Discord discussions in which participants frame the visit through game-derived categories, expectations of atmosphere and authenticity, practical itineraries, and anticipatory nostalgia. The findings show that the Dissociative Gap is not merely an individual form of disappointment, but a socially processed epistemic problem. Community discourse stabilises what counts as authentic evidence of place, translates local knowledge into practical guidance, and offers strategies for managing the tension between mediated expectation and situated experience. The paper contributes to debates on delegated cognition, digital authenticity, platform communities, hybrid methodologies, and the changing architecture of inquiry in post-digital society.