Aleksiyevich, "People Who Lived in the "Red Country" in the Era of the Second Hand" Summary and Impressions - A great book to hear the real voices of people living in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union!
We are pleased to introduce "People Who Lived in the 'Red Country' in the Age of the Second Hand," written by Svetlana Alexievich and translated by Taeko Matsumoto, published by Iwanami Shoten in 2016.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Everything, every thought, every word, is someone else's, yesterday's, someone else's secondhand.
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, leaving behind in the hearts and minds of the people the grand experiment of the 20th century. In order to preserve the voices of those who lived under communism, the writer conducted numerous interviews over a period of more than 20 years starting immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He interviewed family members of suicides, former Gulag survivors, former Kremlin officials, refugees fleeing ethnic conflict, victims of subway terrorism, and students who were arrested and detained for participating in demonstrations. This collection of interviews captures the image of an oppressive nation rearing its head in the 21st century. This is the final volume of the author's life's work, "Voices of Utopia.
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The author of this work, Svetlanana Alexievich, has been featured on this blog in the past.
Aleksievich's distinctive feature is his ability to carefully listen to the voices of each individual in his or her own situation and to draw out the memories and thoughts that lie deep within.
In Alexievich's book, each individual's life comes to the fore, buried in the big picture of history and normally neglected.
In this work, "People Who Lived in the 'Red Country' in the Era of the Second Hand," we learn about the lives, anguish, and hesitations of people living in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
I was really surprised to read this book.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, everything changed.
This is a world where what was previously considered "good" has been turned upside down in an instant.
Russia has been taught that "making money" is evil, but now it has been engulfed by endless "usury" and "selfishness.
Real voices of people who cannot keep up with so many changes from their traditional lives.
The deteriorating economic situation after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the standard of living, and human connections...
In this book, you will learn what the Russian people are thinking, what they are suffering from, and what they are dissatisfied with after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
And above all, that "freedom" is a burden...
This was discussed in the previous articleThe Dancing BearsThis was also stated in the
In "People Who Lived in the 'Red Country' in the Age of the Second Hand," the following was also preached about "freedom.
Freedom! Is this the kind of freedom we have been waiting for? We were prepared to die for our ideals. We were prepared to fight in battle. However, we began to live a life "reminiscent of Chekhov. A life without history. All values collapsed with a sound, except the value of life. Other than the value of life in general. The new dream is to build a house, to buy a nice car, to plant a gooseberry ....... Freedom was the restoration of the snobbery that is usually brushed aside in Russian life. The freedom of His Majesty the Consuming. Dark Achievements. The darkness of desire and instinct-the secret life of man as we have always known it. We were not enjoying life, we were trying to survive the history of the past. Now the experience of war is no longer necessary, it had to be forgotten. Many new emotions, feelings, reactions ....... Everything around us suddenly became something else. Signs, things, money, flags ....... And people themselves.
Iwanami Shoten, Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Taeko Matsumoto, People Who Lived in the Second Hand Era "Red Country", p. 7
The life "reminiscent of Chekhov" that is described here is a short story from Chekhov's masterpiece, which has been introduced on this blog before."Sugoribi."It comes from the
I cannot talk about its contents here because it would be too long, but it is a tale of shivers. It is definitely one of the best of Chekhov's short stories.
Alexievich states that the "happy man" in this work is exactly the one who is dominating Russia today. The book describes the perplexity of a world in which, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, people had the ideal of living their own freedom, but as time passed, that ideal of freedom collapsed, and a world far removed from the ideal appeared before their eyes.
And the next sentence.
In Dostoevsky's "Legend of the Grand Inquisitor" there is a controversy about freedom. The path of freedom is difficult, arduous, and tragic. ...... If it is so expensive, why should we voluntarily make ourselves acquainted with the good and the evil that are worthless? One must always make a choice. Freedom or a life of peace and order? Freedom with suffering or happiness without freedom. And most people take the second path.
Iwanami Shoten, Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Taeko Matsumoto, The People Who Lived in the Second Hand Era "Red Country", p. 9-10
The question of the burden of freedom and the happiness of servitude is still Dostoevsky'sThe Brothers Karamazov.discussed inThe Legend of the Grand Inquisitor."cannot be avoided.
What is freedom?
In Alexievich's "People Who Lived in the 'Red Country' in the Age of the Second Hand," this issue is intertwined with the social changes, economics, ideology, and literature that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A little later in the article, something very interesting was mentioned. It is a bit long, but it is a very important part of the article when considering contemporary Russia, so I will take a closer look at it.
From a conversation with a college teacher of my acquaintance. In the late nineties, when I was thinking about the Soviet Union, the students were laughing," he said. They had no doubt that a new future lay ahead of them. Now it's a different situation. ...... Today's students already know what capitalism is, and they know it firsthand. They see it as inequality, poverty, and unearned wealth. They see in front of them the lives of their parents, who were unable to get anything from their plundered country. So they have a radical mindset. They dream of their own revolution. They wear red T-shirts with portraits of Lenin and Che Guevara printed on them.
Demand was created in society for the Soviet Union, demand for the worship of Stalin. Half of the youth between the ages of 19 and 30 consider Stalin "the greatest statesman. What a new Stalin worship in a country where Stalin wiped out not less than Hitler! Everything from the Soviet era is also in vogue. For example, "Soviet" style cafes with Soviet-style names and Soviet-style food. Soviet" sweets and "Soviet" sausages - smells and tastes we have been familiar with since childhood. And, of course, "Soviet" vodka. Dozens of TV programs and dozens of sites on the Internet that take us back to the Soviet era. As a tourist, you can visit Stalin's gulags - Solovki (the first Soviet concentration camp on the Solovetskii Islands) and Magadan (a gold mining camp in the Far East). The advertisements promise to provide prison uniforms and pickaxes to create the right atmosphere. We are taken to a restored barracks. And last but not least, a fishing trip is planned.
Old ideas are back. About the great empire, about the "iron arm," about "Russia's own way," ...... the Soviet Union's national anthem has returned [in 2001, new lyrics were added to the Soviet national song and it became the anthem of the Russian Federation]. The name of the song is "The Iron Arm.groupThere is the Communist Youth League, which is a pro-Putin youth organization, and there is a party of power that copies the Communist Party. The president has the same power as the general secretary. It is absolute power. Instead of Marxism-Leninism, there is Orthodoxy ......
The young people I met on the street were wearing tank tops with the sickle and hammer (the symbol of communism, the national flag of the Soviet Union) and the portrait of Lenin. Soviet flag] and a tank top with Lenin's portrait on it. Do they know what communism is?
Iwanami Shoten, Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Taeko Matsumoto, The People Who Lived in the Second Hand Era "Red Country", p. 11-12
The horrifying fact that Stalin worship is back in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union is discussed here.
How was Putin able to seize power after the chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union? The book also gives a sense of the atmosphere of why the Russian people support Putin.
What are Russians thinking and suffering? What are they angry about and what do they want?
This work is also very helpful in considering the current Russian-Ukrainian issue.
Frankly, there is so much I would like to introduce, but at the risk of not being able to convey it well if I quote it halfway, I cannot tell you more here. All I can say is, please read it.
I think it is safe to say that this book is a must read for today's Russia.
I highly recommend this work for understanding the current situation in Russia.
This is "Alexievich, "People Who Lived in the 'Red Country' in the Era of the Second Hand," a great book to hear the real voices of people living in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union! This is a great book to hear the real voices of people living in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union!
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