"Curse" of language in the novel by M. Puig "Maldici'on eterna a quien lea estas p'aginas"

This article examines the sixth novel by the Argentine postmodern writer Manuel Puig (1932-1990), Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages (Maldición Eterna a Quien Lea Estas Páginas, 1980). The writer has previously turned to thinking about the linguistic features of different variants of the Spanish language, but in the novel under consideration, his attention is focused on language as a social phenomenon. The work was originally written in English under the impression of meeting a young New Yorker, and then translated by the writer himself into Spanish. The novel, based on the personal experiences of the writer, is an attempt to get closer to understanding the Other and through him to know the I. It seems that one of the main obstacles to mutual understanding is language as a means of communication, since it distorts reality, thoughts and feelings, generates lies. In addition, the novel demonstrates the "power of the word", the ability of language and words to have a significant impact on a person's life, to change destinies. The centrality of the language in the work has become the subject of our interest. The article analyzes the role of language, including multilingualism (the French language occupies a significant place in the artistic system of the novel and the plot), and speech, as social phenomena, in the plot-figurative system of the novel. It is concluded that the author not only seeks to recreate the living speech of people who are prototypes of novel heroes, but also pays great attention to thinking about the role of language in human life. The understanding of the heroes of the language takes a central place in the plot-figurative system of the novel, reveals the characters inner world and the author's intention.