Voices from the East: Svetlana Alexievich's and Hanna Krall's Literary Journalisms

Abstract

In literary journalism, just like in fiction, reality is organized in ways that reflect the author's worldviews. Their choices in style and structure often result in unique ways for the reader to virtually experience the events told in reportages. Based on a close reading of excerpts from three books – one by the Polish writer Hanna Krall and two by the Belarusian reporter Svetlana Alexievich – we intend to understand features peculiar to literary journalism produced by Slavic women. Our goal is to identify the singularities in style and voice in each author's work, as well as their narrative and discourse strategies. In our findings, we understand that Svetlana Alexievich tends to present a mosaic of individual experience for the reader to grasp a broader sense of reality, while Hanna Krall's style is full of narrative discontinuities and gaps of information, an approach she believes is more truthful in emulating reality as it is experienced by her subjects.