Svetlana Alexievich’s first work “War’s Unwomanly Face” is the literature which puts together testimonies from women who serving in the so called Great Patriotic War not only just as combat medics, but also as female soldiers.
In the middle of war, surviving through the battles became the only aim for everyone regardless of gender. Women seemed to be liberated in such a situation. However, the remarkable contribution of female soldiers and the misery of the battlefield that they experienced were erased from the history which men described. The ruling historiography has erased the facts that women had contributed in all areas of the war. The master narrative regarded only men as the subjects of history.
In this paper, we look also into the structure of female oppression, that is, patriarchy underlying in the society, then reconsider this by examining the marginalization of women after the war. The testimony of female soldiers reminds us of the existence of a patriarchy.
However, experiencing the battlefield as an independent individual called volunteers led women to deny the war. We will get to know that going to the battlefield already means that we tolerate the war and nation state invading our thoughts.
“War’s Unwomanly Face” reminds us that the patriarchy which is indispensable for the continuance of modern capitalism is tightly integrated into the society. What Alexievich did in this literature is to re-examine this modernity critically and try to overcome it.
When the narrative of history takes back its original form, that is, weaving human history, the marginalized minority will be transformed into a historical individual by testifying.