Homoeroticism vs Homoaesthetics in the Literary Works of Oles Ulianenko

Abstract

The article is devoted to the literary heritage of Oles Ulianenko, who was virtually the only national author addressing LGBTQIA+ subject matter. The corporal-mimetic method was applied to analyze fiction works, which enabled us to draw a number of meaningful conclusions. On the one hand, LGBTQIA+ themes are typologically represented by a variety of images which are characterized by both an ironic dimension and dramatic pathos, interpreted not in ethical but in aesthetic terms. On the other hand, Oles Ulianenko was the first to shift homosexuality into the visible realm, and to represent the “splendors and miseries” (H. de Balzac) of homoeroticism to Ukrainian society; who, with his sexualized, homosexualized and lesbian narrative of his literary works attempted to speak of a future when his country would overcome the lack of social and sexual freedom.