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Thursday, October 10, 2013

'In our country literature, the word, remains more than just the word' - Nobel literature nominee

The Voice of Russia - October 10, 2013


The announcement of Nobel nominees for literature will be held on Thursday. Among them are: Haruki Murakami, Alice Munro and Svetlana Alexievich. The latter is a belarussian writer who was nominated for her latest book "Second hand time" where she talks about the new generation of people in Russia and how much their ideas differ from those of their predecessors. In the interview to The Voice of Russia she talks about those who inspire her.

How does it feel being in the same row with Albert Schweitzer and Hermann Hesse - Nobel Prize laureates from previous years?
At first, I was baffled, of course, as there are so many names there, my favorite names. But on the other hand, it’s a feeling of support since you realize that you are on the right track and the things you do have been heard. It took me five years to write a chronicle of the Russian-Soviet history, the “red utopia”, the unique and terrible experiment. Some say it’s already in the past, although we are still unable to extricate ourselves from that past. Others say that it no longer interests anyone because life is different now. No, it’s not different, it’s absolutely the same. And it’s not by chance that my last book is entitled ‘Second-Hand Time’. The fact that this was heard, that this book came out in Europe so soon and stirred up debates and explained much of what is happening [in our country] and where we have failed - and I look at the Internet and see similar debates at Russian-Belarusian internet forums - so, of course, it’s a feeling of support.
About which authors, classics from the past, would you say that they were your guides?

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