Echoes of Translation in Svetlana Alexievich’s Narrative

Abstract

This paper explores the presence of translation in the work of Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian journalist and 2015 Nobel laureate in Literature. Amid the ongoing debate about whether her books should be categorized as fiction or non-fiction, we propose an alternative perspective on her cycle, Voices from Utopia, suggesting it can be viewed as a translation of Soviet history. By applying recent translation studies theories that broaden the definition of translation beyond mere interlingual transfer, we can observe how translation operates at various levels within her texts. This process involves not only the witnesses interviewed by the writer and Alexievich herself but also extends to the readers. Specifically, through a process of (self-)translation, the interviewees describe their lived experiences, and their voices become a polyphonic chorus that offers fresh insights on the history of the USSR. Alexievich translates these oral testimonies into written documents, which then undergo multiple retranslations due to the continuous changes in narratives, in which both her audience and the author herself are immersed. These translations and retranslations ensure the afterlife of original accounts and shape the way that the readers translate history by immersing themselves in a plurality of its versions. Seeing Alexievich’s historical oeuvre as a continuous flow of translations that engage everyone—from the witnesses to the readers—opens up new ways to interpret her cycle.