As a fighting nation, the brave and perseverance of the Russians has left a deep impression on people. In Alexievich's works, people find more tenderness, vulnerability and emotional side of the Russian nation. It even makes people feel that there are some innate tendencies and even "flaws" in the Russian national character, such as being too idealistic, too emotional, too hesitant and impulsive. As a result, they are inspired by grand ideals again and again, devote themselves to them again and again, and then are let down and betrayed again and again. And this also gives Chinese readers a familiar feeling of self-pity, especially when the pace of idealism is so different from the frequency and rhythm of frustration in reality.
In Alexievich's five works, from World War II to the Afghan War, from the Chernobyl nuclear accident to the Yeltsin era, almost all the grand narratives about history that people once knew and believed in have been subverted and reconstructed. This has undoubtedly led to a certain degree of disillusionment and historical nihilism. As a result, the people in "Second Hand Time" are full of fatigue and sadness. No matter how dissatisfied they are with reality, they all seem to have lost the desire and impulse to act. Even Alexievich seemed tired, returning to one theme repeatedly whenever she was asked about real political issues: People just want to live a peaceful life. Regarding Putin, she said "it would be nice if" he wasn't so strong.
This reminds people of her confession when summarizing her thirty-year creative career: "In the past, I was more interested in, and what influenced me more was social thought..." Today, what interests me most is what happens in the lonely soul space of human beings. ”Her Chinese readers will obviously have a tacit understanding of this statement. After all, we have heard too many words about "farewell to the revolution" over the years, whether it is out of fear of the pain of the past, or out of cynicism who only wants stability in this world.
Alexievich believed that Russia in the Yeltsin era was a poor imitation of the West and the Tsarist Russia era. People experienced a period of "second-hand time", that is, "all ideas and all language came from others, as if they were clothes worn yesterday... everyone is using things that others have known and experienced before." The question is, what is primary time? When asked whether young people who grew up in the Gorbachev era would also feel that they were experiencing "second-hand time" if the "8.19 Incident" succeeded, Alexievich did not answer the question directly, but said that no one would want to go back to the Stalin era.
At the Nobel Prize ceremony, Alexievich emphasized that "the era of hope was replaced by the era of fear." Applying the concept of second-hand time, the hopeful era here should be the time that belongs to the people first-hand, similar to the time when Hu Feng cheered "Time has begun" on the Tiananmen Gate Tower. Paradoxically, however, eras full of hope always seem to be replaced by eras full of fear. It seems that people can only enjoy first-hand time when they are mobilized again, and in other days they have to endure a long second-hand time with lengthy echoes of the past.
It seems that those who cannot truly control their own destiny will never be able to escape the sad reincarnation of second-hand time, and will never be able to enjoy first-hand time.
