The Portrayal of Diseases in the Novels of Zoe Heller and Joanne Harris Antonina Bulyna (Ukraine, Slovakia)

The article zeroes in on the vision that diseases, alienation and grotesqueness are inseparable. It suggests that mental and physical disorders contribute to realiz- ing the scale of alienation and grotesqueness inside and outside the characters. The current research shows the way diseases determine human interaction. It elucidates the characters’ paradigm shift in their understanding of themselves and the world after a disease has entered their lives. The presence of symptoms, syndromes and traumas in the novels presupposes that society is far from being balanced. The article also discloses the overlap of literary discourse with medical discourse.