LANGUAGE AS RESISTANCE: PLAY AND IDENTITY IN GEORGI MARKOV’S “THE PORTRAIT OF MY DOUBLE”

Abstract

The paper analyzes the literary language and the problem of play in the novella “The Portrait of My Double” as forms of resistance against the language of socialist ideology. The main thesis of the study is that the game functions as a metaphor for an autonomous reality governed by its own internal rules, according to which deceit, ruthlessness, and amorality are considered virtues. Within this play-world, the individual achieves a paradoxical kind of freedom – while remaining subject to the rules of the game, they are able to “play” with their identity, liberating themselves not only from the dogmas of ideology and society, but also from their own self. In this way the characters in the novella oppose the narrative of the “new” virtuous socialist man.