Homosocial intimacy in Memories of a tolstoyan by Fernando Santiván

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the autobiography Memoreas of a tolstoyan by the Chilean author Fernando Santiván (1955), focusing on homosocial relationships and the homoerotic subtext, as well as ethical and aesthetic implications. In the analysis I want to stress that one of the most important rhetorical qualities of this text is to achieve a socially acceptable representation of the relationship between Santiván and Augusto D’Halmar, his mentor and intimate friend, without explicitly mentioning their homoeroticism although traces of it cannot be denied.