Svetlana Alexievich Receives the Jeju 4·3 Peace Prize

So, Svetlana Alexievich just scooped up the Jeju 4·3 Peace Prize, and there she was in Jeju City, having a chat with the press on April 29, 2025. Amid the usual buzz, something about palm trees caught her eye, making her all philosophical. She noticed how the old leaves stack up under the new ones, kind of like layers of history, right? And that got her pondering—what’s with all these layers? What do they tell us about our past and our present?

The Philosophy of Layers

Rolling these thoughts around her head, Svetlana, who’s picked up a Nobel in literature, started talking about how these leafy layers are like memories. Memories that are often tangled up with pain. According to her, it’s crucial we remember our history, not just to lug around the bad stuff, but to have this collective strength when facing today’s big bad wolves.

Svetlana's Literary Impact

A bit of a backstory on Svetlana—she’s written some heavy stuff. Books like “The Unwomanly Face of War” and “Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster” that dive deep into personal testimonies from some of the darkest chapters of the 20th century. These works kind of blend history, literature, and journalism into this fresh mashup she calls “oral novels.” Pretty groundbreaking stuff that clinched her the big Nobel prize in 2015.

Concerns About Global Leadership

At the conference, she didn’t hold back. Svetlana expressed her worries about folks like Trump and Putin teaming up, and the vibes she’s getting are not good—like, at all. It feels to her like the bad guys are winning. Sitting cozy in Berlin, she keeps an eye on her homeland Belarus, which is all caught up in the Ukraine crisis. And from what she sees, democracy’s having a tough time holding up against all this.

Finding Hope in South Korea

But hey, there’s a silver lining. She talked about how South Korea showed some serious spine on December 3, squashing an uprising like a boss. This gave her hope that maybe, just maybe, democracy isn’t out for the count.

A Call to Action

She’s urging everyone not to just roll over when faced with nastiness. It’s like, are we just gonna throw in the towel? Not on her watch. During the big protests in Belarus against the big bad government, she was right there in the streets—not bad for someone north of 70, huh?

The Grim Reality of War

This morning, flipping through the news over coffee, the stories were grim—Russian bombs dropping on civilians. This, she says, is exactly why we gotta fire up that spirit of defiance. And it’s not just about taking to the streets; it’s about staying sharp and not getting numb to the horror show.

Jeju’s Tragic History

So, what’s the scoop with Jeju? When she first hit up South Korea back in 2019, a Korean writer buddy clued her in about Jeju’s tragic history, labeled as a commie hotspot back in the day. Now, she sees Jeju as a bastion of resistance, and she’s there digging for more answers on how to keep up the good fight.

Conclusion: A Mission Beyond Prizes

After the prize ceremony, she paid her respects at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park and rounded off her visit with a talk at the local literature museum. Clearly, Alexievich isn’t just about winning prizes. She’s on a mission to stir up the pot, rally the troops, and maybe change a few minds along the way.