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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.65.05.9
How to Cite:
Novykov, A., Hohol, N., Horbolis, L., Marieiev, D., & Kleimenova, T. (2023). The archetype of a woman warrior in the work of
Svitlana Alexievich. Amazonia Investiga, 12(65), 84-95. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.65.05.9
The archetype of a woman warrior in the work of Svitlana Alexievich
Архетип жінки-воїна у творчості Світлани Алексієвич
Received: April 11, 2023 Accepted: May 31, 2023
Written by:
Anatoliy Novykov1
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5158-960X
Web of Science ResearcherID: AEG-9024-2022
Nataliia Hohol2
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0780-6237
Web of Science ResearcherID: AGE-3034-2022
Larysa Horbolis3
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4775-622X
Web of Science ResearcherID: AAD-3345-2022
Dmytro Marieiev4
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6282-8052
Web of Science ResearcherID: AAE-6230-2021
Tetiana Kleimenova5
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2095-8067
Web of Science ResearcherID: HJZ-3591-2023
Abstract
Examples of Belarussian writer Svitlana
Alexievich documentary prose – novels “The
Unwomanly Face of War” and “Zinky Boys”
dedicated accordingly to highlighting of
German-Soviet (1941–1945) and Soviet-Afghan
(1979–1989) wars have been reviewed in the
article. The focus of the author is emphasized on
the problem of disclosure of woman warrior
archetype through the prism of consciousness of
writer’s novels characters which still wasn’t the
object of literary research. In order to achieve the
objective of research general scientific and
special literary methods is used: analysis,
synthesis, descriptive, cultural and historical,
method of archetypical critics, hermeneutic,
typological, psychological methods and textual
and contextual analysis and elements of
comparative analysis of the Svitlana’s
Alexievich works. It has been found features of
woman warrior archetype representation and its
1
Doctor in Philology, Professor at the the Department of Ukrainian Language, Literature and Methods of Teaching, Oleksandr
Dovzhenko Hlukhiv National Pedagogical University, Hlukhiv, Ukraine.
2
Doctor in Pedagogy, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Ukrainian Language, Literature and Methods of Teaching,
Oleksandr Dovzhenko Hlukhiv National Pedagogical University, Hlukhiv, Ukraine.
3
Doctor in Philology, Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Language and Literature, Sumy State Pedagogical University named
after A. S. Makarenko, Sumy, Ukraine.
4
PhD in Philology, Associate Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Language, Literature and Methods of Teaching, Oleksandr
Dovzhenko Hlukhiv National Pedagogical University, Hlukhiv, Ukraine.
5
PhD in Philology, Seniour Lecture at the Department of Ukrainian Language, Literature and Methods of Teaching, Oleksandr
Dovzhenko Hlukhiv National Pedagogical University, Hlukhiv, Ukraine.
Novykov, A., Hohol, N., Horbolis, L., Marieiev, D., Kleimenova, T. / Volume 12 - Issue 65: 84-95 / May, 2023
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functioning in the article. It has been defined
variations of this archetype in the researched
works of writer and defining features of woman
warrior archetype. It has been emphasized that
in the both works “The Unwomanly Face of war”
and “Zinky Boys” – S. Alexievich doesn't just
generalized image-archetype of woman warrior
but granted to it the modern sounding.
Keywords: Documentary prose, archetype,
archetype of woman warrior, woman warrior
archetype variations, defining features of woman
warrior archetype.
Introduction
In the second half of the XX century in the world
literary studies interest in literature of fact,
documentary prose, non-fiction and memoires
was activated which was caused by political
sociocultural events and their consequences in
particular: wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan,
birth of hippie movement, sexual revolution etc.
Literary scholars emphasized on the formation of
new genre modification – conceptually
qualitative literary journalism which was
implemented mainly in the masterful artistic
description of particular facts, deep observations.
According to the definition of Ukrainian
researcher L. Shutiak, “literary journalism is the
form of documentary prose which connects
reportage and certain narrative techniques and
stylistic strategies which are typical for the
fiction” (Shutiak, 2014, p. 182). Determined
genre modification is represented in the works of
the world’s best writers.
So, in 30s of XX century Nobel laureate Ernest
Hemingway joined actively to the formation of
documentary prose. He traveled around the
world a lot and described his impressions of what
he saw in such books: «Death in the Afternoon»
(1932), «Green Hills of Africa» (1935), «A
Moveable Feast» (1964) etc. Truman Capote and
Varlaam Shalamov worked in non-fiction genre.
So, in the book «In Cold Blood» (1966) Truman
Capote conceals own voice and maximally
objectifies narration via stylistic means.
«Kolyma short stories» by Varlaam Shalamov
(1954–1973) is consists of placed in the special-
order short stories in which endured fears of
GULAG are reveled with a perfect documentary
reliability.
Famous film director of world-class Oleksandr
Dovzhenko is related to the creation of
documentary prose. During the World War II he
published series of publicist and documentary
articles in which urged Ukrainian and other
nations of then Soviet Union to the armed
struggle against Nazi Germany (“To arms!”,
“The enemy will be defeated”, “At formidable
hour”, “Germans will not master in Ukraine”
etc.).
Book of modern Ukrainian writers are marked by
special documentary. In particular book
O. Zabuzhko “Let my people go: 15 texts about
Ukrainian revolution” (2006) is combination of
diary entries, non-fiction, letters, reportages,
interview, extracts from witnesses conversations.
In the works of L. Belei “The evil ninetieth: Love
and hate in Uzhhorod” (2014) and A. Chapai
“Journey with Mamaiota in search of Ukraine”
(2011) characters voice true stories by own
voices. Therefore, characters in the books begin
to “live” separate of the author who records their
words documentary.
However, tendency of depiction of characters life
separate of the author, recording their stories,
perspectives is represented in the creative legacy
of writers in the end of XX century.
Theoretical Framework
The greatest advancement in the development of
documentary prose genre reached Byelorussian
writer Svitlana Alexievich – Nobel laureate in
literature in 2015 year. She is an author of the
series of documentary books based on the
memories. Fiction and documentary novels “The
Unwomanly Face of War” (2016а) and “Zinky
Boys” (2016b) are particularly distinguished.
Characters of both works are women. The first –
former participants of German-Soviet war 1941–
1945, second – participants or relatives (mothers,
sisters, daughters) of those who participated in
the Soviet-Afghan war 1979–1989. Peculiarity
of Byelorussian writer is polyphony, polyphony
of women characters when author left as if
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behind the scenes giving the opportunity to the
narrators to express their thoughts freely.
Literary scholars offer consider such author's
style in the context of “genre of voices” (Ihnativ,
2018; Shchur, 2015), or “genre of testimony”
(Lugarić Vukas, 2014).
The writer characterizes it as “history of
feelings” (Usmanova, 1998). Works of S.
Aleksievych became the object of attention of
scientists who analyzed fiction and documentary
novels “The Unwomanly Face of War” and
“Zinky Boys” of the writer according the subject
of own researches. Professional interest for us
makes up scientific exploration of B.
Waligórska-Oleinichak “On feminine myths and
images in Svetlana Alexievich's prose”
(Waligórska-Olejniczak, 2016), in which poetics
of Byelorussian litterateur is researched
carefully, is interpreted images of her characters
through the prism of the feminine myths. In the
article of D. Lugarić Vukas “Testimony about
the inexpressible: about the genre of testimony
and trauma in the texts of S. Alexievich “The
Unwomanly Face of War” and “Zinky Boys”
(Lugarić Vukas, 2014) on the example of above-
mentioned novels “genre of testimony” is
considered, signs of narrative of traumatic
experience in the facts collected by S. Alexievich
are considered. Instead, article of J. Rodgers
“Making space for a new picture of the world:
Boys in Zinc and Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana
Alexievich” is devoted to the research of genre
and compositional specifics of fiction and
documentary novels of S. Aleksievych (Rodgers,
2019). However, in mentioned scientific
explorations authors concern superficially the
issue of reproduction of women images in the
work of writer.
Issue of fiction and documentary prose poetics of
S. Alexievich is considered in the scientific
works of K. Górska “Book of S. Alexievich «The
Unwomanly Face of War” as cyclical fiction and
documentary phenomenon: structure and
poetics” (Górska, 2018), “Fictional-
Documentary Prose by Svetlana Alexievich
(problems of poetics)” (Górska, 2019).
Nevertheless, archetype of a woman warrior in
which we are interested wasn’t the subject of
consideration of scientist.
Archetype of a woman mother (woman wife) in
the works of the writer was studied by
A. Novykov, T. Kleimenova, M. Kushnierova,
D. Marieiev, N. Hohol in the article “Genesis of
the “Woman’s” War in Creativity of Svetlana
Alexievich (Based on the Material of the Novels
“The Unwomanly Face of War” and “Zinky
Boys”)” (Novykov et al., 2021).
At the same time in the scientific works of
literary scholars wasn’t focused attention on the
issue of revelation of archetype of a woman
warrior through the prism of characters
consciousness of novels “The Unwomanly Face
of War” and “Zinky Boys”. This led to a choice
of the research subject of scientific exploration.
Methodology
To achieve the objective of research totality of
general scientific special literary methods are
used in the article. In the process of work in
highlighting of theoretic material on the
researched topic it was found that in the modern
literary critical discourse works devoted to the
works of S. Alexievich “The Unwomanly Face
of War” and “Zinky Boys” are available. They
concern mainly issues of its poetics, genre and
compositional specifics, interpretation of images,
artistic value. In the article we used general
scientific methods of analysis and synthesis.
Using the describing method with its universal
techniques of observation and systematization it
was found that archetype of woman warrior in
the novels of Belarussian writer S. Alexievich
wasn’t the object of special research. Detailed
research of features of the archetype woman
warrior operating in the works of S. Alexievich
enabled usage of literary methods: cultural and
historical, archetypical critics, hermeneutic,
typological, and psychological. So, cultural and
historical method contributed to understanding
of fiction and documentary novels of writer as
organic component of the world literary process.
Analysis of works of the S. Alexievich through
the prism of archetype of woman warrior is
carried out using the method of archetypical
critics. Characteristics of mentioned image-
archetype in the works of writer, its complex
interpret became possible due to hermeneutic
method. Applying of typological method for
understanding of characters figures, motives of
their aqctions during the war allowed to figure
out the common, different and peculiar in the
characters temper of novels “The Unwomanly
Face of War” and “Zinky Boys”. Psychological
method was directed to the figuring out of the
figures of psychological interpretation of the
characters tempers by the writer. Furthermore, it
was used textual and contextual analysis for the
figuring out of means for representation of reality
and image creation and components of
comparative analysis of S. Alexievich works.
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Results and Discussion
In the literary process of XX-XXI centuries
internal orientation on the search of archetypes is
observed which is caused by authors aspiration to
motivate existence of the eternal in unconscious
spheres of human psyche what nascent in pre-
history and repeat in the form of archetypical
situations, states, images, motives.
In the aspect of our research consideration of the
notion “archetype” (greek. archē – beginning
and typos – image) which was put into academic
circulation by Swiss philosopher Carl Gustav
Jung in XX century is relevant. Scientist
interpreted it as initial, most ancient image is laid
down in collective memory, manifested and
passed on during the long period of time (Jung,
1991, p. 98–99). In literary studies mentioned
notion is interpreted as prototype, initial image,
idea which “is derived on the “surface” of the
conscious in the form of literary work, actualize
general core features immanently is inherent in
national mentality and at the same time human
race” (Hromiak, Kovaliv & Teremok, 2006,
p. 65). Therefore, under the notion archetype we
understand repeated true images and motives
which constantly back to the literature
predetermining its “out” of the boundaries of
particular historical time; archetype is presented
in the plots, motives, “eternal” images.
On the basis of stories-testimonies in the novels
of S. Alexievich we can highlight several female
images-archetypes: archetype of mother, wife
and woman warrior.
Archetype of woman warrior has been engraved
in the collective folk memory since ancient times
and is reflected both on the tablets of history and
in folk art. Speaking of women warriors, it is
worth mentioning the ancient Greek goddess
Athena Pallas (Minerva in Romans). Born from
the head of Zeus, she appeared before other gods
“fully armed, in a shining helmet, with a spear
and shield” (Kun, 1993, p. 28). Athena Pallas
was considered the patroness of the heroes of
Greece, the protector of cities and fortresses, as
well as the goddess of wisdom and knowledge
(Kun, 1993, p. 29).
History has preserved many examples of how
skilled women warriors could be. Throughout
human history, women, along with men, have
participated in wars and achieved significant
success in this matter. These mentions are placed
in chronicles and chronicles of the ancient world.
The legendary Amazons mentioned by
Herodotus (V century BC) in his “History” where
reality is closely intertwined with myths, we find
information that, related to the Amazons, the
Scythians made increase a tribe of Sarmatians,
who lived between the Don and the Dniester.
Women of this tribe wore men's clothing, deftly
rode horses and, along with men, participated in
both hunting and military campaigns.
Additionally, according to ancient tradition,
Sarmatian women could not marry until she had
killed at least one enemy (Herodotus, 1999,
p. 272).
Women warriors also met in ancient Russian
epics, where they were called “glades” because,
being real heroes, they were not afraid to enter
into fights with male knights, which according to
ancient tradition took place in a clear field.
Notably a woman often emerged victorious from
these confrontations. The most famous are the
following folk characters as Nastassa
Korolevschna, Vasslsna Mskulishna, Nastassa
Mskulishna. Colorful portraits of such brave
women are described in the epics “Dobrynsa
marries” (another name “Dobrynia and the
Serpent”), “Star Hodinovich” (another name
“Staver”), ‘Ilia Muromets and daughter’ (Songs
collected by PN Rybnikov, 1909).
Nowadays, women join the army voluntarily, and
in some countries (such as Israel) military service
is mandatory for women. It is documented that
during World War II, about a million women
along with men took part in hostilities.
In the novel “The Unwomanly Face of War”, the
writer emphasized that many women wanted to
be military on a voluntary basis. However, not
everyone was aware of the difficulties of their
chosen profession. These were romantic women,
whose emotionally uplifted mood usually
dissipated after the first impressions of the
military routine. “I considered a military
uniform” recalls former anti-aircraft gunner
Klara Goncharova. “I loved the chic, the clarity,
the fragmentary words of the order”. In her
memoirs, the woman noted how persistently she
appealed to the management of the aviation
school to send her admission rules. When the war
broke out, of course, she “could not stay at
home”, but after it ended, the woman's attitude
toward military affairs changed. She no longer
wanted to associate her life with a military
specialty, even her pants became disgusting, “I
wanted to wear something ordinary, feminine...”
(Alexievich, 2016a, p. 251).
However, there were also women who
consciously went to the armed forces by vocation
and remained true to their choice for decades. We
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are talking about women for whom military
service has become a profession. A striking
example of such a life experience was the story
of Taisiya Rudenko-Sheveleva, a retired
lieutenant colonel who dreamed of serving in the
armed forces as a child and persistently pursued
her goal. Such devotion to the cause allows us to
compare her with the legendary «cavalry girl»
Nadezhda Durova, whose history became widely
known in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Nadezhda Durova served in the Russian army for
about ten years under the name of Officer
Alexander Alexandrov Alexandrov, and during
the war with Napoleonic France, she took part in
hostilities, showed unprecedented courage and
received a number of military awards and
distinctions.
Notably the fate of Nadezhda Durova was
decided by Emperor Alexander I when he learned
of her unbridled desire to serve in the army, and
the fate of Taisia Rudenko-Sheveleva – the first
female officer of the Navy of the former Soviet
Union – People's Commissar for Defense
Clement Voroshilov to whom little girl wrote a
letter requesting permission to enter the
Leningrad Artillery Military School, closed for
women (Alexievich, 2016a, p. 257).
The situation changed significantly during the
German-Soviet war, when hundreds of thousands
of women expressed a desire to voluntarily join
the regular army or partisan unit. Moreover, this
desire was dictated not so much by romance or
the intention to choose the military profession as
it was before the war, but mostly by patriotic or
ideological motives associated with the
education of unconditional devotion and love for
the «socialist homeland», personal responsibility
for the fate of the country. Deadly danger.
According to the veterans, posters such as
“Motherland is calling!”, “What did you do for
the front?”.
In this context, it is appropriate to mention the
former private, civil engineer Tamara Torop,
who was simply in love with the Soviet
government, Stalin, Voroshilov, and other
leaders of the Soviet Union. It is how her father,
an ideological communist, raised her. They sang
the songs “International” and “Holy War”
together in the evenings. It is logical that the girl
did not even ask whether or not to go to war.
When she was eighteen, they came to the military
registration and enlistment office with her father
(Alexievich, 2016a, p. 208).
Former anti-aircraft gunner Klara Tikhanovich
guided by patriotic motives when she made every
effort to join the active army. For some time, the
girl lived a normal life, but after a neighbor
received a letter stating that her husband was
hospitalized after a serious injury, she decided
that it was her turn to go to the front (Alexievich,
2016a, p. 250).
Something similar can be said about Klavdia
Konovalova, who, working at the plant as a
hammer thrower, dreamed of benefiting the
Motherland much more, and contrary to the plans
of the plant management, who did not want to
lose a valuable worker, achieved the cancelation
of armor and voluntarily went to war the same
hard male work, but as a gun commander
(Alexievich, 2016a, p. 257–258).
There were cases when whole families went to
the front. This story is reflected in the memoirs
of Svetlana Katykhina – a former soldier of the
field bath and laundry team. First, her father went
to the front, followed by his mother-nurse, and
then sixteen-year-old Svetlana, who was denied
for a long time, but a year later was allowed to go
to war (Alexievich, 2016a, p. 100).
Notably when they got into a military unit or
partisan detachment, the volunteer girls usually
did not look for a «warm town» for themselves
there, but on the contrary, tried not to stand out
among the male soldiers. These were real virgin
warriors, who can be compared to the legendary
Amazons or warlike Sarmatians, whose
unforgettable images were depicted in his
“History” by Herodotus. In this regard, the story
of the former commander of the sapper platoon,
junior lieutenant Stanislava Volkova, was
indicative. After graduating from university, she
graduated from sapper school during the war, and
at the front, contrary to the command's decision,
stubbornly demanded that she not be left to serve
at headquarters, and despite the great danger of
dying in the first months or even weeks on the
front line was appointed sapper platoon
commander. It is also noteworthy that,
commanding battle-hardened sappers, who first
perceived her rather ambiguously (some smiled
sarcastically and some spat contemptuously), she
gradually gained considerable authority from her
subordinates (Alexievich, 2016a, p. 266–268).
Former partisan Halina Dubovik, who served as
the second number in the machine-gun service,
can also be considered a real woman warrior. Her
responsibilities included carrying a handgun. It
was too heavy a burden for the fragile girl's
shoulders, but she was afraid to admit it to her
comrades-in-arms because she understood that
then she would most likely be sent to work in the
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kitchen. “It's a shame. God forbid that I should
spend the whole war in the kitchen” (Alexievich,
2016a, p. 259). The girl considered it a great
honor to receive the most dangerous combat
mission and constantly tried to prove that she
deserved it.
However, even against this background, women
warriors stood out, whose psychological state
and actions can be explained by a phenomenon
that was later defined as Stockholm syndrome.
These are the children of politically repressed,
so-called “enemies of the people”. Former nurse
Natalia Kupriyanova recalled how delighted she
was to see Stalin before the war in the theater, in
the government lodge. She, like the whole hall,
“froze with happiness”. And this although her
father had already been arrested and her older
brother had disappeared without a trace in the
camps. It is in such a sublime emotional state that
Natalia “came to war” (Alexievich, 2016a,
p. 384).
The desire of the subjects of political repression
to be at the forefront of the defenders of the
Motherland often dictated by the desire to prove
at all costs their allegiance to the Bolshevik
government, which seemed irrational from the
viewpoint of common sense. A good illustration
of this is the story of a young partisan whose
entire family (father, mother and two older
brothers), as in the case of Natalia Kupriyanova,
was repressed before the war. The girl with the
terrible brand of the daughter of the enemies of
the people lived with her aunt, mother's sister,
and as soon as the war began, she voluntarily
joined the partisan unit, where she constantly
exposed herself to danger, performing difficult
tasks to prove that she is no worse than others.
However, the command stubbornly “did not
notice” the exploits of the brave partisan.
Everyone was rewarded, but never her. Medals
were not given because parents are enemies of
the people. “And when the girl's leg torn off by a
shell explosion, she cried with happiness and
assured that now «everyone will finally believe
her’ (Alexievich, 2016a, p. 115).
The writer did not miss such a not entirely
politically correct phenomenon as blood revenge,
the origins of which date back to antiquity. In this
regard, it is appropriate to mention the cruel
retribution to the Drevlians, performed by the
order of Princess Olga of Kiev for the murder of
her husband Prince Igor, as well as the “vendetta”
on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. Blood
revenge also occurred during the German-Soviet
war. One of the heroines of “The Unwomanly
Face of War”, a former partisan, said that in their
detachment of captured Nazis were not shot,
considering such a death too easy for these
villains. Moreover, she personally went to watch
them “cut to pieces” and even waited for the
moment “when their eyes will burst with pain...”.
The veteran explained her behavior at the time by
the unprecedented atrocities of the Nazis, which
were committed in particular against her family:
“my mother and sisters were burned at the stake
in the middle of the village...’ (Alexievich,
2016a, p. 31).
Such behavior of the people's avengers, fits into
the paradigm of blood revenge and against the
background of the fact that military women were
not usually taken prisoner by the Germans. At
best, they were shot immediately. However, not
everyone is so “lucky”. Particularly, striking was
the story of a captive nurse who was terribly
mocked (cut off her chest, pierced her eyes) and
put on a stake (Alexievich, 2016a, p. 170–171).
The German-Soviet war was overly brutal, and
the writer portrayed it through the perception of
a woman warrior without any embellishments.
The author of the book “The Unwomanly Face of
War” constantly emphasized that her heroines
had a great psychological motivation: they
defended their motherland.
A completely different war appears in the work
of S. Alexievich “Zinky Boys”. This war was on
foreign soil against a people who did no harm to
the citizens of the Soviet Union. Awareness of
this indisputable truth, of course, seriously
demotivated Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan.
Apparently, not everyone who entered this war or
lost a loved one there was satisfied with the
official explanation that the Soviet military was
performing a so-called “international duty”. One
woman whose husband died in Afghanistan
remarked, “Forty-first and forty-fifth were in
grief all over the country. Everyone has lost
someone. He knew what he had lost. The women
cried out in unison. In the culinary school where
I work, a team is one hundred people. Only my
husband died in this war, which others only read
about in the newspapers. When I first heard on
TV that Afghanistan was our disgrace, I wanted
to break the screen. day I buried my husband for
the second time…’ (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 255).
Something similar was said by those who were
directly involved in this unjust war (“I wanted to
be at war, but not in this one”) (Alexievich,
2016b, p. 65). The notion of “another war” was
formed by stories of exploits during the Second
World War, of the glorified and partly
romanticized in Soviet textbooks on the history
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of the heroics of battles. As they recounted their
impressions of the war in Afghanistan, women
no longer compared what they had been told and
what they had seen with their own eyes. The
presentation of their views after Afghanistan
became logical and structured. Outspokenness
and specificity in determining the degree of
hatred for the enemy, in characterizing the
feeling that was born after the murder of a friend
with whom they shared food, who compared his
soul – the attributes of the female postwar
worldview. The deep emotional wound from the
Afghan war lasted a lifetime. The woman ensign,
the head of the secret service, recalled how, in
response to an appeal to the district executive
committee for the promised “thanks”, she heard:
“Are you injured? <...> Well, and live like
everyone else. We did not send you there”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 225–226).
The Zinky Boys, in the form of monologue
interviews, told the stories of those who had not
escaped the war in Afghanistan, whose memory
of this armed conflict and its aftermath was
constantly exhausted. The stories about the
military experience of women who performed
the so-called “international duty” there together
with men, their impressions of being in a foreign
country, patience, moral exhaustion logically
arranged by the writer. We share the opinion of
researcher Sh. Hovard that “material collected by
the writer reproduces real epos of Afghan war –
choir of voices who fairly tell about the tragedy”
(Howard, 1992, p. 236).
The armed confrontation in Afghanistan in the
“Zinky Boys” represented not only by the stories
of women (mothers, wives, nurses, employees).
However, the war that women see and feel is
different, and that is why the female discourse of
war added sincerity, volume, and completeness
to the masculine image of war.
While men went to war mainly under the
direction of the Soviet command, most women
employees (typists, hairdressers, cooks,
waitresses, cleaners, librarians), nurses went
there quite voluntarily, believing the Soviet
propaganda carried out by the media. An
example of such propaganda was the essay
“Afghan Madonnas’ published in the newspaper
“Pravda’. In Soviet schools, inspired stories
about women in war were read to high school
students, and at the front, as one of the heroines
recalls, women refused to believe the fabricated
‘truth’ (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 122). Thus, the
woman-keeper became the most differentiated
female role, which was actively used in the
media. The concept of the woman-keeper quickly
became part of the official Soviet state discourse.
The romanticism of thoughts described in one of
the testimonies of employees: “How did I get
here? Very easy. I believed everything that was
written in the newspapers...” (Alexievich, 2016b,
p. 63). Furthermore, there were hundreds like
her. As a rule, the belief in Soviet propaganda, in
what was sung in the songs brought by the “boys
from Afghanistan”, in the ‘real life’ full of
adventures and devoid of mundaneness, which
the strong lived there during the war, men and
beautiful women, and sometimes just a desire to
find themselves and their destiny pushed
(motivated) women to go to war. However, as
one of the employees summed up, happy women
did not go to the Afghan war. The same can't be
said for the lonely, divorced, offended, those who
did not have a family, husband, children in a
peaceful life. They were then said: “They came
for the grooms” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 177).
Confirmation of this motivation was the story of
one of the heroines of the work – an employee
who dared to take such a step because she broke
up with her man. She explained women's interest
in the war as “the opportunity to earn, and
perhaps arrange a personal life” (Alexievich,
2016b, p. 262). However, even here it quickly
became clear that women in the war were
considered “dirty”, they were not even allowed
into the officer's bath, forcing them to wash in the
soldier's bath.
We learn from the story of one employee that her
departure for Afghanistan was supposed to level
the awareness of her own worthlessness, to
justify her own presence in the world. The ideas
that captivated the minds of young people were
not gender-disaggregated. Boys and girls did not
hesitate to go to Kabul, trying to test the strength
of spirit, strength of will, character.
At first, women in Afghanistan were horrified by
what they saw in the war (mutilated corpses,
cruelty, cold-blooded killings), but later they
developed hatred for the enemy because of their
comrades-in-arms killed; women's
consciousness changed, they became cruel, and
the same employee after a while declared: “I like
to go to shoot” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 65).
Although there were others who could not
overcome their feminine nature, because they
believed that a woman was born first to give life,
not to deprive it.
Gradually, the war in Afghanistan ceased to be a
purely male affair. Women's first impressions of
being in a foreign country were often beaten
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down, confusing: barbed wire, soldiers with
machine guns, barking dogs, women waiting to
be distributed to battalions. Frank selection on
the basis of external attractiveness determined
the place of women among warring men.
Unconquered girls were forced to fight for their
own dignity, became more rude and hardened
their own character, gaining the traits of
masculinity. “I fought for two months”, recalls
one of the employees. “Once I almost dropped a
grenade, and another time I grabbed a knife’
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 64).
The war also made its adjustments in the sphere
of personal relations. Employees found their love
in the war, although this word was never used
there in Afghanistan. The feeling that united the
two people was evident in the war because it was
limited to a certain time and space – Afghan, and
“after Tashkent’ he and she parted ways. In her
story, one of the women, who had to be an
“Afghan” wife, recalled hiding her husband from
a bullet, and he did not receive any letters from
home for two months when he told the lawful
wife.
A woman in war, as well as a man, was not easily
tested, especially when it was necessary to kill a
man. Fighting your own emotional state,
overcoming nervous disorders, trying to
understand what provoked aggression and hatred
in your soul – it is what women learned while in
the male team.
The experience of women in war, and her ideas
about war from the beginning were different
from men's attitudes. The concept of war was
embedded in the minds of every man from
childhood. For a woman, the war a priori looked
different. Even women's memories of the war
were more specific than men's because of the
woman's sensibility. “I bring nothing from there
except memory”, the participant of the Afghan
war recalled with pain in her story (Alexievich,
2016b, p. 227). Memories of the experience are
full of strong and severe comparisons, but they
also have many inconsistencies: “Let the
authorities do it, and here people see blood and
become beast. They are plagued ... One day you
will see how the burned skin is folded into a tube
... It is as if a nylon stocking has cracked ... And
it will happen to you ... It is horrible when
animals are killed . . . A caravan was shot, it
carried weapons ... People were shot separately,
donkeys – separately. They were equally silent
and waiting to die. The wounded donkey shouted
as if on iron – something iron. So creaking...”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 66).
Afghanistan has become a point of no return. In
the memory of women who fought, it was forever
engraved as a memory of the past, compared with
which everything else, every day, seemed small,
insignificant, unworthy of attention (Alexievich,
2016b, p. 225). Thus, women's memories are
similar to men's, united by the «Afghan
syndrome» (Alexievich 2016b, 129). The
absence of the past, which will keep in the world
and give hope for the future, the devaluation of
their own lives, the feeling of loss – the feelings
experienced by the heroine of the “literature of
fact” created by S. Alexievich.
Women's stories allowed us to see how men in
the war perceived them. Yes, women were
encouraged and motivated by the masculine “you
can also be explored with you” because the usual
gender stereotypes were destroyed, and the
image of a gentle, shy and needy woman came
closer to the archetypal image of a strong and
strong-willed Amazon; and at the same time, it
was a heartfelt request to let her hair down so
that, for the first time in three months, soldiers
could see a woman instead of a shaved head
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 65). Simultaneously,
feelings of resentment and attachment were
especially acute during the war: «Here the best is
even better, and the bad is even worse»
(Alexievich 2016b, 67).
The war changed life's priorities, made one
wonder the facts, banal and familiar in a peaceful
life. Young, beautiful and strong officers, who
were in the imagination of every girl were
associated with nobility, in the war struck by the
lack of basic courtesy, undisguised
manifestations of contempt for women.
In their stories, women also mentioned «other»
women in the war, primarily motivated by
money. “There is no one truth, it is different, it is
the truth”, one of the employees tried summing
up the choice of women to go to Afghanistan
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 67). For young men, the
image of a woman formed by the Afghan war
seemed distorted, low, devoid of a halo of
tenderness and chastity. Moral decline, which
often became the norm in war, programmed
contempt for women after returning home, made
it impossible to build healthy relationships in a
peaceful life and hindered the creation of a
family. “The guys who serve here do not hide: If
I hear that the girl was in Afghanistan, for me she
disappears’ (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 122).
The beauty of a woman, her attractiveness, which
played an exceptional role in a peaceful life,
replaced in the war with the notions of
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accessibility and vulnerability. There was no
room for condemnation or contempt in the stories
told by women about the moral decline of other
women. One of the employees mentioned her
surprise at the huge number of women who went
to this war. It was no surprise to learn that most
of them were of practical interest, but there were
also women who sought their happiness in the
war: “My eyes went to my forehead when I saw
how many women were going to this war. Good
and ugly, young and not very young. Cheerful
and angry. bakers, cooks, waitresses ... cleaners
... Of course, everyone had their own practical
interest – they wanted to earn, maybe, and
arrange a personal life. All unmarried or
divorced. In search of happiness. Fate. There was
happiness ... And they really fell in love”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 262).
War was not a part of life, it became a separate
life, especially for women who return home,
were forced to start it anew. The sacred role of
women, her high purpose in the war in
Afghanistan was devalued. A woman felt a
constant fear for her own life if she had the
strength to refuse to “perform an international
duty in bed” (Alexievich 2016b, p. 122). The
facts of rude and outright cynicism toward
women in the war contrasted sharply with what
Soviet newspapers wrote about the “Afghan
Madonnas”. The essay, published in Pravda, told
a completely different story, romanticized the
attitude toward women with weapons, and
inflamed the desire of young girls to go to the
southern borders of the country (Alexievich,
2016b, p.122). Recalling how she suffered from
daily insults, how she bravely endured the same
diseases that exhausted men (hepatitis, malaria),
the girl-employee told the story that for many
women in the war became a reality: “My mother
proudly declares to friends: “My daughter is in
Afghanistan”. My mother is naive! I want to
write to her: “Mom, shut up, or you'll hear that!”
Maybe I'll come back, I'll understand everything
– and I'll leave, I'll warm up. Furthermore, now
everything in the soul is broken, plundered. What
did I learn here? Is it possible to learn goodness
or mercy here? Or joy?” (Alexievich, 2016b,
p. 123).
The girls with whom Svitlana Alexievich talked
in Afghanistan felt psychologically exhausted.
They explained their difficult emotional state by
the fact that here, in war, “something happens
every day that shakes and turns your soul”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 124). The horror dreams
told the author by one of the employees are
permeated with fear of insulted honor and
awareness of the possibility of being buried alive
under a “layer of Afghan heavy land”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 124).
The strength of a woman's character was
hardened in war through the ability to resist
emotional pain, through the ability to empathize
with a man, boy, child, but a woman became
weak in war because of loss of dreams, future,
inability to believe in something, hope for
something, experiencing complete
disappointment.
Another reason why the girls went to war was
money, “good money”, the opportunity to buy a
tape recorder, a sheepskin coat, good things and
so on. Many pages of S. Alexievich's work were
devoted to stories about mercenary women, the
so-called “chekists”, who earned their living in
the war with their own bodies, receiving payment
by checks, and sometimes just a can of stew or
milk powder. They did not wear awards, even if
they have them because others laughed at them,
saying that those medals were “For Sexual
Merit” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 67–68). According
to the name of the shack in which the officers
lived, such women in Afghanistan were called
“shacks” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 122).
Of course, not all women in the Afghan war were
sex workers and “chekists”. There were more
good girls. Some of them went there because of
their romantic beliefs. One of the heroines
described the sincerity of her feelings as follows:
“It is mercy! Work for a woman's heart!”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 263). Such women
considered service in Afghanistan as “a woman's
duty to protect our boys, to save them!”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 159). There were fateful
love meetings and weddings, because “happiness
is the same everywhere. Especially female
happiness” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 262).
However, most of these relationships ended in
war, lovers returned home as strangers: ” Love
was before Tashkent: from there – he is on the
left, she is on the right” (Alexievich, 2016b,
p. 159).
However, female employees were afraid to return
to the Soviet Union because they were “white
crows” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 69). They had a
traumatized psyche, could not get used to a
peaceful life, it was difficult for them to “believe
in something, to love something” (Alexievich,
2016b, p. 124), “nothing was interesting for them
after Afghanistan” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 225).
One of the heroines said in this regard: “Men
fight at war, and women fight after” (Alexievich,
2016b, p. 191), another added: “This war will
never end for me” (Alexievich, 2016b, p. 227).
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They could not sleep, they dreamed of the horrors
of war, corpses, shelling, they suffered from
depression, lost in a peaceful life, they
“confiscated the past” (Alexievich, 2016b,
p. 265).
In addition, they felt disgust from men. The
women cursed Afghanistan, after which they
could not live in peace. Without them, their sons
and daughters grew up, and other children
laughed at them, as if imitating the attitude of
adults to employees. After all, women went to
war “from a country that needed this war, and
returned to a country that did not need this war”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 264), they were erased
from history, placed “between the millstones”.
The image of a woman warrior, which can be
considered archetypal for Ukrainian and world
culture, in the documentary S. Alexievich
appeared as a contradictory image, devoid of
solid foundation. The living space of the Soviet
woman was not connected with wars and
military, and therefore the attitude to the woman
who took part in the war in Afghanistan was
predicted and formed as frankly and sharply
negative: “We all think about home, but say little.
I want to come back. Where will we return? We
are also silent about this” (Alexievich, 2016b,
p. 124).
Crying for a girl who knew about the war only
from books became the dominant motive for
despair at the experience. Books about war can
be misleading, but not tell the truth about the war.
For the Soviet women who read a lot, the
experience gained in the war in Afghanistan
became the limit beyond which there was nothing
to tell about the war.
The distribution of socio-gender roles in society
dictated its rules of treatment of women and the
trials that may befall her. During the war, a
woman, despite the burden of her own
experiences from everything she saw and
experienced, often took responsibility for the
pain of others. One of the employees mentioned
the confession of a stranger, who, seeing the
woman, decided to tell her about his experience,
and she, as a mother, listened for a long time and
was afraid for him: “A stranger ... It is normal.
Saw a woman, wanted to share. He saw that only
half of the boys' boots were left... From the stutter
of a machine-gun... Familiar guys. I thought he
wouldn't stop. Who did he go to next? ”
(Alexievich, 2016b, p. 177).
Conclusions
Two wars German-Soviet (1941–1945) and
Soviet-Afghan were represented through the
prism of woman’s perception in the fiction and
documentary novels “The Unwomanly Face of
War” and “Zinky Boys’ of S. Alexievich. Writer
accentuates on psychological motives of
characters participation in the war and their
traumatic military experience. German-Soviet
War (1941–1945) is positioned as fair by its
participants because they protected their
motherland from invaders. Among the motives of
participation in the war on the basis of characters
narratives of novel “The Unwomanly Face of
War” we highlight: emotionally sublime attitude
to the war caused by romantic perception of the
world which was finally dispelled in the harsh
realities; vocation, self-awareness as
professional woman warrior; patriotic or
ideological motives which predetermine girls to
go to war voluntarily; motive of the desire to
prove their devotion to Bolshevik regime at any
cost is inherent in the daughters of politically
repressed “enemies of the people”; bloody
revenge.
Thus, in the mind of characters of novel “The
Unwomanly Face of War” there are place for the
feat frequently (not in vain in the former Soviet
Union this war was called Great Patriotic) what
considered natural phenomenon in the than
society. That is why for performing of combat
mission set by commanders, they could quite
consciously and voluntarily risk (or even
sacrificed) their lives or lives of people dearest to
them – their children. In the article mentioned
images are compared with legendary Amazon
and militant Sarmatians.
Elucidated that Soviet-Afghan War appears
completely different in the mind of women
warriors in the novel “Zinky Boys”. In this work
S. Alexievich reflects military experience of
women who performed so called “international
duty”. Most women-participants of Soviet-
Afghan War were nurses, orderlies, telephonists,
typists etc. Except romantic beliefs, motives of
women participation in this war were:
arrangement of personal life; feeling of lack of
implementation in peaceful life; aspiration to try
out the will power, temper, improve their own
financial position. It must be noted that direct
participants of this war in comparison with their
predecessors were not motivated to the feats
because appeared on the foreign territory and
were forced to fight for incomprehensible
interests. Images of “women with the weapon”
represented through the stories about Afghan war
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made distinct the pain and suffering of the whole
generation of people who not only got the
traumatic experience but appeared among the
millstone of life because appeared unnecessary.
On the basis of mentioned by us motives which
encouraged women to participate in the war and
analyzed narratives-testimonies of characters and
their military experience was found out
variations of woman warrior archetype in
researched works of S. Alexievich. So, in the
novel “The Unwomanly Face of War” – women-
romantics, women-professional warriors,
women-patriots devoted to Bolshevik regime
daughters of “enemies of people”, women-
avengers.
In the novel “Zinky Boys” images of romantics
are available too but we distinguish and women
for whom participation in the war became the
mean of self-realization and those who
associated it with reaching of material prosperity.
As result of conducted analysis of works of S.
Alexievich, characteristic of characters we
highlighted defining features of woman warrior
archetype in particular: approval of self-worth,
hardening the character, gaining of masculinity
signs. After all gained experience on the war
didn’t allow the woman to continue to be weak
and tender. Especially it is manifested clearly
during the German-Soviet War when she actually
lost her femininity was forced to carry out
completely all work is typical for strong sex. In
the novels writer emphasizes on characters
mental trauma, difficulties in returning to the
peaceful life.
It is important to emphasize that in the novels
both “The Unwomanly Face of War” and “Zinky
Boys” S. Alexievich not only generalized image-
archetype of woman warrior but also has
provided it with modern sound. Those images
quite easily to project on participants of Russian-
Ukrainian war which started 24 of February in
2022.
Certainly, our exploration does not claim to
completeness of research of woman warrior
archetype in the novels of S. Alexievich,
although discovers new aspects of studying her
fiction and documentary prose.
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