In apartments and cottages, on the street and in the train... I listen... More and more, I turn into one large ear, always turning to another person.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
From the point of view of art, the butcher and the victim are equal as people. You need to see the people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that in art, both the perpetrator and the victim hold equal significance and humanity.
Svetlana Alexievich's quote highlights the notion that art transcends the roles of individuals in a narrative, urging the viewer or reader to recognize the shared humanity of all parties involved, regardless of their moral standing. It calls attention to the importance of seeing beyond the labels of 'butcher' and 'victim' to understand the deeper human experiences that connect us.
Themes
ArtHumanityPerspectiveEmpathy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the roles of characters in artistic storytelling.
More from Svetlana Alexievich
All quotes βThe subjects I wanted to write about - the mystery of the human soul, evil - didn't interest newspapers, and news reporting bored me.
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'Women's' war has its own colors, its own smells, its own lighting, and its own range of feelings. There are no heroes and incredible feats; there are simply people who are busy doing inhumanly human things.
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There is no need to give in to the compromise that totalitarian regimes always count on.
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I've been searching for a genre that would be most adequate to my vision of the world to convey how my ear hears and my eyes see life. I tried this and that, and finally, I chose a genre where human voices speak for themselves. But I don't just record a dry history of events and facts; I'm writing a history of human feelings.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
Nothing, not even human life, is more precious to us than our myths about ourselves.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
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