Remarks from an Accomplice: dialogic analysis of Svetlana Alexievich's autobiographical discourse

Abstract

Nostalgic memory is evoked in response to a distressing present and, thus, guides the future of the reminiscent subject. With a strong effect on the construction of identity -collective and individual -nostalgia proves to be especially fruitful in Russian society. Something that is notably reflected in the mnemonic narratives of the work Secondhand Time: The Last of The Soviets (2016), by Belarusian journalist and writer Svetlana Alexievich. In the work, the privileged collective narrative within the myths and ideologies that governed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) gives chance to a wide variety of history facets through private narratives. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to analyze the autobiographical chapter Remarks from an Accomplice, from the perspec- tive of dialogic discourse analysis, with special attention to the way Alexievich positions herself discursively as an author. Therefore, we mobilized Bakhtinian concepts, and we base ourselves on the Soviet ideological setting examined in works by Svetlana Boym and Orlando Figes. Then, we found an authorial voice that recognizes its power of historical construction in deep dialogue with the commu- nity of which it belongs. Based on that, at the same time she distances to give a certain aesthetic finish to her autobiographical character, the author developed her identity discursively by empathetically approaching the other with whom she shared the expectations and pains of the vigor and downfall of the Soviet regime.