Svetlana Alexievich wins the Literature Nobel Prize

On October the 8th 2015, the Swedish Academy gave its recognition to the journalist and writer Svetlana Alexievich from Belarus, who was nominated the winner of the Literature Nobel Prize for the year 2015.

This morning The Nobel Committee for Literature took their final decision on the winner after weeks of speculation by journalists and academics who in fact had not expected Svetlana Alexievich to receive the award. The majority of academics, journalists and critics hoped that, this year, non-western authors could have won the prize.

Other potential winners included Haruki Murakami from Japan, the two Indian English language writers Salman Rushdiee and Amitav Gosh. Philip Roth, from the United States, together with Claudio Magris, from Italy.

As the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy has pointed out, Svetlana Alexievich was awarded the Nobel Prize due to her “polyphonic writing, a monument to suffering and courage in our time”. In fact, the books written by the Belarusian author give a historical and anthropological documentation about historic tragedies and disasters such as World War II and the Chernobyl disaster. Furthermore, she also wrote about important more recent occurrences such as the Soviet War in Afghanistan, of which people do not know a lot about.

The stories are told through the eyes of civil society. For example, the main characters of Zynco Boys are the veterans and the mothers of all those soldiers who lost their lives during the war. In all her work, Svetlana Alexievich makes an important reflection about the impact that the Soviet Union had on the people. According to the writer’s opinion the Soviet Union was able to shape its own citizens. 

The critics describe her as a “reporter of the Soviet Union”. Especially in her masterpiece “Second Half Time”, rather than trying to find answers about the Soviet Union, her wish is to remember and describe all the emotions connected to the daily and social life of its citizens. Through direct testimonials, Alexievich creates a revival of the Soviet life, by bringing back all the habits and customs, haircuts, music and food.

Once again, the Swedish Academy and the Literature Nobel Committee recognize civil engagement and commitment, as one of the most important functions of literature.