Ecological Interpretation of Voices from Chernobyl：The Oral History of the Nuclear Disaster

张静

【摘要】《切爾诺贝利的悲鸣》以报告文学的形式展现了现代社会的生态悲剧，本文从生态批评视角对文本进行解读，分析核灾难下人物的生存状态和精神失衡表现，并探讨导致这一问题的根源，挖掘该作品倡导的生态思想，警示人们对自然、人类命运和前途的关注，唤醒人的生态保护意识。

【关键词】切尔诺贝利 核灾难 生态思想

【Abstract】“Voices from Chernobyl： The Oral History of the Nuclear Disaster” show ecological tragedy of modern society in the form of reportage. This article interprets the text from the perspective of ecological criticism， analyze their living status and spiritual imbalance after survival， and discuss the root of the problem， to advocate ecological thinking about Nature， fate and future of humanity， evoke peoples ecological awareness.

【Key words】Chernobyl； Nuclear Disaster； ecological thinking

On 26 April 1986， a catastrophic nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Pripyat， then located in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union （USSR）. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere， which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. The Chernobyl disaster was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties.

Alexievich， then in her 30s， interviewed more than 500 eyewitnesses， including firefighters， liquidators （members of the cleanup team）， politicians， physicians， physicists and ordinary citizens over a period of 10 years and write a book. The book relates the psychological and personal tragedy of the Chernobyl accident， and explores the experiences of individuals and how the disaster affected their lives. The US edition： Voices from Chernobyl： The Oral History of the Nuclear Disaster， translated by Keith Gessen was awarded the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award for general non-fiction and win the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature.

Alexievich defines her writing style as record while Nobel official names it polyphonic writing. She plays the role of a recorder， what she concerns most is the fate of the ordinary people and what she writes is the most ambitious era concern. Kafka once said， “Not everyone can see the truth， but everyone can be the truth.” Diversified will weave together a lot of detail， recreates the life of the individual state tragedy. Voices from Chernobyl shows ecological tragedy of modern society in the form of reportage. The UK edition translated by Anna Gunin and Arch Tait named Chernobyl Prayer： A Chronicle of the Future. This article will analyze their living condition after survival and spiritual imbalance from the perspective of ecological criticism， excavate ecological thinking the work advocates， warn people about Nature， the fate and future of humanity， evoke peoples ecological awareness.

Lu divides ecology into natural ecology， social ecology， and spiritual ecology. They take nature， human society and economic life and peoples inner feelings and the spiritual life as the research object respectively. Wang advocates ecological criticism should explore the relationship between literature and nature under the guidance of ecological idea to reveal the ideological root of ecology crisis the literary works reflect ， and to explore the ecological aesthetics of literature.

Homesick and identity crisis.

Space theory provides the possibility of development and expansion of ecological criticism ， it can be applied to almost all the literature study， subjects like peoples alienation， self-identification crisis， the reflection of modernity， the reason of appearance of anti-ecological ideas and works， all of these can be discussed from the perspective of space theory. After the disaster， many people refuse to leave， “even if its poisoned with radiation， its still my home”. Some people write their names on fences， woods houses， asphalt before they leave. After leaving， their emotion become more intense， “Everyday Id dream of my house. Id be home soon.” evacuated bride and groom even come back and film their wedding. They lost their land， their house and their home. “We all call ourselves chernobylites. A new nation”. Historically， peoples feeling towards the land is complicated， their sense of belonging and stability of the country is closely linked to the land. Displaced and lonely excluded life lead to identity crisis politically. Dissatisfaction with reality raised doubts on the existing political system. “We dont need anything from the government. Just leave us alone， is all we live”， “Who needs the government？...And freedom！ Were happy. This isnt a collective farm anymore， a commune....And then we wont need anyone at all.”（Alexievich： 75） Chernobyl is their home and motherland， and now， it does not exist. They lost their home in political sense and ecological sense.

Lost of faith

“They had faith that we lived well and fairly， that for us man was the highest thing， the measure of all things. The collapse of this faith in a lot of people eventually led to heart attacks and suicides.”（Alexievich： 163） When people have enough time to reflect the disaster， treatment of government is criticized. Blind optimism based on trust in science and technology made them hide the truth to the public. They firmly believe “Well win！ Were warriors！” This heroic patriotic is the ideological roots of a series of disasters. “I hate your science！ I hate it” This is the cry from a desperate mother and powerful indictment to the science supremacists.

People are in panic and want to know who is to blame. They blame the government for tricking them， they even blame “God delivers the bullet” Mistrust to government， religious and existing knowledge systems lead to the collapse of faith. This is not just an explosion of the nuclear reactor but the explosion of whole value system.

Destruction of human nature

The theme of the book is love and death， they are also the nature of human. But for some people， its a sin to give birth， its a sin to love. In 1993， there were 200，000 abortions because of Chernobyl. Chernobylist， their ability to get married and fertility are deprived. This is the destruction of human nature.

The alienation of people is manifested in a more brutal way. “this is not your husband anymore， not a beloved person， but a radioactive object with a strong density of poisoning” Wifes courage and love could not stop her husbands death， the girl she gave birth to died due to infection. Love is so powerless in the face of death. Even he is warrior in the country， his body can not be buried according to normal procedure， but treated like a dangerous poisonous radioactive object.

Reflection after the disaster

In front of death， humans wisdom， science and technology cannot withstand a single blow， people were turn into animals， powerless and being hunted. The relationship between man and animals is no longer the master and pet but companion. When animals are slaughtered to make sure they will not cause greater losses， a boy asked the question. Sergei Gurin， a cameraman give the answer， “Our love is all about the sufferings and loves of people but not of everything living. Only humans” This is a query to typical human center value orientation and peoples status is pulled to the level of animals and even lower. “Chernobyl is a theme worthy of Dostoevsky， an attempt to justify mankind. Or maybe the world is simpler than that. You should come into this world on your tiptoes， and stop at the entrance， into this miraculous world.” （Alexievich：173） This is reflection after the disaster， a change of the natural confrontation conception， and also the ecological orientation advocated by this work.

References：

[1]Alexievich Svetlana.Voices from Chernobyl：The Oral History of the Nuclear Disaster，trans.Keith Gessen.Picador：St.Martins Press，2005.

[2]Lu Shuyuan.The Space of Ecological Criticism.Shanghai：East China Normal University Press.2006.