Svetlana Alexievich

What do we know about the history of Eastern Europe? The present war in Ukraine has crudely drawn attention to the complexity of a region that has remained off the media maps since the collapse of the Soviet Union and that, except for economic exchanges, Western Europe has tended to ignore. However, part of what our continent is today was born from the history and the conflicts that have taken place in this vast territory, and this cultural, economic, and social history is essential for understanding the present of Europe in ways that go beyond critical moments such as what we are seeing today. What is this Europe that emerges from the post-Soviet space? What legacy has come down to us from this region that challenges all Europeans?

A polyphony of voices is one of the main features of the literary work of the Nobel laureate for Literature, Svetlana Alexievich, one of the great writers of our times. Her books tell the history of the former Soviet Union through testimonies of people who have experienced it first-hand. In this session, Svetlana Alexievich speaks about the future we can imagine for Europe in a conversation with Jorge Ferrer, who has translated some of her works into Spanish, and the journalist Silvia Fehrmann, who works with institutions in Berlin that receive exiled artists from Eastern Europe.

This session is possible thanks to the collaboration and complicity with the Encuentros de Pamplona 72-22, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Espacio Fundación Telefónica.