Work

The Ladder by Eugenia Kuznetsova: A queer reading of a wartime Ukrainian novel

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The article offers a queer phenomenological, after Sara Ahmed, and “queer world-making,” after José Muñoz, reading of the novel The Ladder ( Драбина ) by Ukrainian author Eugenia Kuznetsova. The article examines gendered dynamics in the novel, and draws attention to its queer moments and features: more specifically, “competitive queer world-making” where the protagonist and his family appear as minoritarian subjects; “expanded space of the war” and changing spatiotemporal gendered normativities of Ukrainian citizenship and nationhood mediated through the gadgets, and multiplicity of queer phenomenologist “straight lines” affecting the protagonist. The paper also argues for the necessity of employing further gender and queer perspectives in the analysis of wartime Ukrainian fiction literature.

Source: Open Research Europe

DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.20792.1

Author: Eugenia Seleznova

Institution: Central European University

Language: English

Topic: Gender and Feminist Studies

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Gender equality

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $841