A “catastrophe of time”: narrative and historicity in Voices from Chernobyl

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an analysis of the experiences of time registered in the book Voices from Chernobyl, by Svetlana Alexievich. From the expression “a catastrophe of time”, that Alexievich uses to refer to the nuclear disaster, we try to understand how the narratives found in the book try to deal with the potency of this terminal event, which breaks with the parameters of temporal comprehension previously established. By doing a critical reading of the communicative efforts made by the witnesses and of Alexievich’s self-referential excerpts, we propose a reflection on the possible historicities in the face of the incomprehensibility of the catastrophe, through narrative and daily life.