By: María Ximena Cortés

"I almost want to tell him to forgive me: I do. And I curse that we are not alone to embrace him, and hold his cheek with my hand, and suck that trickle of soda that is dripping down his chin... if we were alone: if he would only let me...".

(Molano, 2002, p. 28).

The novel A kiss from Dick published in 1992 by the Medellín Chamber of Commerce, by the Colombian writer Fernando Molano, allows us to see the story of two adolescents who explore their sexuality and the enjoyment of first love, involved in a narrative that transcends their innocence by confronting social and family discrimination. Felipe and Leonardo become clichés and symbols of the subversion of the homoerotic subject in literature. This term homoeroticism allows the reader to better understand the expression of feelings of love for another of the same sex.

The reality in Molano's novel is measured by the discovery of a taste for Leonardo, from Felipe's point of view, which will permeate the whole reading in how this attraction begins and how it ends with them being totally in love and sexually intimate. Thus, the book begins with the illusion of having this love, taking into account that the character does not ask himself whether it is right or wrong to feel an attraction towards a person of the same sex, but rather it is normalised within the novel:

"[...] Ah, I only wish Leonardo loved me; that he were now by my side... and be like his. Philip only dreams of being the greatest man in this world, Hugo. For Leonardo to undress him whenever he wants... -And to do with him what he wants..." (Molano, 2002, p.18).

It is then that the relationship comes into contact with this sexual exploration between the two boys, making a torn pair of trousers an erotic element of the male body and desire:

"He slips his hand, slyly, and slips a finger between my broken... that is, between his broken: and I already feel like when you are killed by lightning or something...: it's terrible."(Molano, 2002, p. 47).

The conclusion is that the term homoerotic is used in this novel in an innocent way, not reflecting on the lives of two adults who love each other, but of two schoolboys who are learning to love and desire. Of the doubts and longings that these characters have on a daily basis. This is why the book is written as a monologue and in the first person, to allow the reader to get closer to the character, to identify with them and to feel their experiences, their desires and their fears.

What the reading provokes is to make clear how the relationship is lived between two boys who love each other by choice, because they want to live their lives with each other despite discrimination, perversion and the sick look of society. For this reason, this narrative contributes to Colombian literature for its high content of metaphors and allusions to the social environment of the time, for how homoerotic subjects live on a daily basis and for what they feel, from the point of view of a boy falling in love with the other person and how this does not turn out to be bad as socially it has been said.

*This is a summary of an academic work carried out for the Universidad Autónoma de Colombia. To read the full document just click on click here 

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