13 June 2025
Works of Svetlana Aleksievich: editions, translations, interpretations
Svetlana Aleksievich, a Belarusian-Ukrainian Russian-speaking writer, creates documentary novels, which consist of the carefully arranged oral testimonies of hundreds of people united in their shared experience of significant events during Soviet history. Her five works form a cycle known as Golosa utopii (‘The Voices of Utopia’). In 2015 Svetlana Aleksievich received the Nobel Prize in Literature for “her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage of our time.” She was the first Belarusian, 14th woman, and the sixth Russian-speaking writer to receive this prize. The Nobel Prize award sparked a lot of reactions, and ignited interest in examining Aleksievich’s works and their publications.
The books of Svetlana Aleksievich differ in their content depending on their editions. Aleksievich continuously edits her texts by adding previously omitted, censored, or self-censored passages; by removing, editing or rearranging previously published narratives; and by including documents or reactions to her published books in succeeding editions.
The translations of Aleksievich’s books provide yet another layer of interpretation. Currently her books have been translated into 52 languages and published in 55 countries. The patterns of translations and publishing reveal the changes in the global context and recognition of Aleksievich’s work for either artistic or political reasons.
Cover of U voiny ne zhenskoe litso (Minsk, 1985) YF.2008.a.16467
Pages from U voiny ne zhenskoe litso (Minsk, 1985)
The first Russian-language Belarusian edition of her book U voiny ne zhenskoe litso (The Unwomanly Face of War), published in Minsk in 1985, contains photographs of the women interviewed for the book. It is confirmation that the book features oral history and is not a work of fiction. These, or any other photographs, do not appear in succeeding editions.
Cover of 1988 English edition of U voiny ne zhenskoe litso, War's Unwomanly Face (Moscow, 1988) YC.1991.a.3986.
The photograph on the cover of 1988 English edition, printed in Moscow under the title War’s Unwomanly Face, features the photograph from the 1985 Belarusian edition on its cover, the last link to the visual documentary. The 2004 Russian edition of the book contains not only parts that were previously censored, but also Aleksievich’s reflection on her work with her material, which she titled Everything Can Become Literature. With this she signals her direction towards literary interpretation of documentary materials.
Cover of the first Ukrainian translation, U viiny ne zhinoche oblychchia (Kharkiv, 2016) YF.2016.a.17203
It is from this 2004 edition that most of the recent translations are made. This includes the first translation of the book into Ukrainian in 2016, U viiny ne zhinoche oblychchia.
Tsinkovye mal’chiki (Zinky Boys) is the third book of the cycle. It presents the Soviet narratives of the Soviet-Afghan war. It was first published in 1991 in Moscow. The phrase ‘zinky boys’ refers to the bodies of Soviet soldiers repatriated in zinc coffins. The first Belarusian edition (Moscow, 1991; YA.1995.a.27836) already includes Aleksievich’s reflection on the reactions this yet unpublished book caused: the parts of the books were published in Belarusian newspapers and periodicals prior to the book’s publication.
Cover of the Spanish edition of Tsinkovye mal’chiki , Los Muchachos de Zinc: Voces Soviéticas de la Guerra de Afganistán (Barcelona, 2016) YF.2016.a.25638
Cover of the French edition of Tsinkovye mal’chiki, Les Cercueils de Zinc’ (Paris, 1991) YA.1992.a.16574
Some translations, like the French edition, translated the title more straightforwardly as ‘Zinc Coffins’. Some added an explanation, like the Spanish edition pointing to the Soviet voices, or a French version emphasising frustration with conflicts (this version is not available in the BL).
Cover of Russian edition of Tsinkovye mal’chiki (Moscow, 2001) YA.2003.a.27136
The cover illustration of the 2001 Russian edition features an image of a mother holding her dead child. The cover of this edition brings the focus towards the grieving mothers. They are featured in the book among other voices. Mothers are also among those who filed a lawsuit against Aleksievich after the initial publication of Tsinkovye mal’chiki for representing their sons in a light that damages their reputation and memory. This 2001 edition, and those that followed, include the trial materials, Aleksievich’s speech in court, and reactions of politicians, public features and public to the book and the court case.
The last book of the cycle, Vremia sekond hend (Secondhand Time), was published in 2013. It came out first in Swedish, then in German and French, and then in Russian. This book is the culmination of Aleksievich’s work of the past decades, in which she collected the narratives of those, who, like herself, lived through the shift from the Soviet Union to post-Soviet life. Aleksievich explains in the beginning of the book that she is in a rush “to capture the traces” of “the Soviet civilization”. As with all her books, Aleksievich is mostly concerned with recording the emotional impact of ideological, social, and economic changes on regular people. To accurately interpret these experiences to the Western readers, translators and editors must make decisions on title translation, the use of footnotes and other additional explanations in translated texts.
Cover of the Fitzcarraldo edition of Secondhand Time (London, 2016) YF.2016.a.26652
The English translation by Bela Shayevich has the most extensive footnotes, explaining nearly every unclear concept. Its title is close to the original as it includes ‘secondhand time’ yet follows it with an explanation of finality: Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets.
Cover of the French edition of Vremia sekond hend, La Fin de l'Homme Rouge ou le Temps du Desenchantement’(Paris, 2016) YF.2016.a.26651
Cover of the German edition of Vremia sekond hend, Secondhand-Zeit: Leben auf den Trümmern des Sozialismus (Bonn, 2013) SF.427[Bd.1397]
The French translation avoids the concept of ‘secondhand time’ and instead reinterprets the title via the lens of emotions associated in the West with the post-Soviet era, namely a sense of hopelessness. The German translation retains ‘the secondhand time’ in the title but refocuses on the concept of socialism more relatable to German readers.
Cover of the Belarusian edition of Vremia sekond hend, Chas Second-Hand: Kanets Chyrvonaha Chalaveka (Minsk, 2013) YF.2016.a.10823
The Belarusian translation was the first translation in nearly 15 years. It was published by an independent Belarusian publishing house and used the cover image of the square in Minsk, which evokes an array of associations in Belarusian readers. Unlike the image on the cover of the French edition, ‘the Red Person’ on the Belarusian cover is leaving the page.
Svetlana Aleksievich’s polyphonic writing and her continuous editing in combination with diverse translations of her works point to the synergetic effort to convey to the readers the collective memory in the most relatable and empathetic way.
Darya Lis, PhD Candidate, Collaborative Dissertation Partnership: Queen Mary University of London and the British Library
References/further reading:
Svetlana Aleksievich, Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from a Forgotten War (London, 1992) YK.1993.b.3754
Svetlana Aleksievich, Vremia Sekond Khėnd. (Moscow, 2013) YF.2013.a.22038
Margarita Savchenkova, ‘Secondhand Stories in between Fact and Fiction: The Impact of Translators’ Footnotes in Svetlana Alexievich’s Narrative’, Palimpsestes:Revue de Traduction, no. 37, 2024, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4000/11wh1