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''Translations'' is a three-act
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
by Irish
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...
, written in 1980. It is set in Baile Beag (Ballybeg), a Donegal village in 19th century
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Friel has said that ''Translations'' is "a play about language and only about language", but it deals with a wide range of issues, stretching from language and communication to Irish history and
cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (sometimes referred to as cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" often describes practices in which a social entity engages culture (including language, traditions, ri ...
. Friel said that his play "should have been written in Irish" but, despite this fact, he carefully crafted the verbal action in English, bringing the political questions of the play into focus. Baile Beag ("Small Town") is a fictional village, created by Friel as a setting for several of his plays, although there are many real places called Ballybeg throughout Ireland.


Performance and publication

''Translations'' was first performed at the
Guildhall, Derry The Guildhall in Derry, Northern Ireland, is a guildhall in which the elected members of Derry City and Strabane District Council meet. It is a Grade A listed building. History The current building was preceded by an earlier town hall called ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
, on Tuesday, 23 September 1980. It was the first production by the Field Day Theatre Company founded by Friel and
Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in films such as ''V for Vendetta'', '' Michael Collins'', '' Interview with the Vampire'' and '' Breakfast on Pluto''. Rea was nominated for the Academy Aw ...
. It was directed by Art Ó Briain and featured the following cast:Friel, Brian (1981). ''Translations.'' London: Faber and Faber. *
Mick Lally Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broade ...
(Manus) * Ann Hasson (Sarah) * Roy Hanlon (Jimmy Jack) * Nuala Hayes (Máire) *
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
(Doalty) * Brenda Scallon (Bridget) *
Ray McAnally Ray McAnally (30 March 1926 – 15 June 1989) was an Irish actor. He was the recipient of three BAFTA Awards in the late 1980s: two BAFTA Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor (for ''The Mission'' in 1986 and ''My Left Foot'' in 1989), and ...
(Hugh) *
Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in films such as ''V for Vendetta'', '' Michael Collins'', '' Interview with the Vampire'' and '' Breakfast on Pluto''. Rea was nominated for the Academy Aw ...
(Owen) * David Heap (Captain Lancey) * Shaun Scott (Lieutenant Yolland) The staging in Derry was significant for a number reasons. Friel and
Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in films such as ''V for Vendetta'', '' Michael Collins'', '' Interview with the Vampire'' and '' Breakfast on Pluto''. Rea was nominated for the Academy Aw ...
thought of Derry as a clean slate where they could have more creative control over their work. Rea also thought that the play had a much profounder impact being staged in Derry than if it had been staged in Dublin. Art Ó Briain also pushed for a Derry staging. Furthermore, Guildhall's proximity to the play's Donegal setting and the strong Northern accents of the mostly
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
cast created a strong sense of "local pride" and "community passion". Derry itself was also the subject of a name dispute, fitting for a play "concerned with place names". ''Translations'' received its American premiere at
Cleveland Play House Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square whe ...
in 1981, starring Richard Halverson as Hugh. The production was directed by Kenneth Albers with scene and lighting design by Richard Gould.
Article at clevelandplayhouse.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
The play was staged in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
later that year by the
Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has g ...
, starring Barnard Hughes. It was briefly revived on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 1995 in a production starring
Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in o ...
. In 2006–2007, the Manhattan Theatre Club returned it to the stage at the
McCarter Theatre McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The institution is currently led by Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg. ...
in
Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
and the Biltmore Theatre in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, directed by
Garry Hynes Garry Hynes (born 10 June 1953) is an Irish theatre director. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Tony Award for direction of a play. Biography Hynes was born in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, and educated at St. Louis Convent at ...
.Gluck, Victor
"Translations"
Review at Theaterscene.net, 29 January 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
The play was published in 1981 by
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...
, who still publish it today. It is published in the United States and performance rights are held by Samuel French Inc. It is a set text on the
Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...
English curriculum in Ireland and, in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, it remains a popular set text among English and Drama & Theatre
A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
students. It won the
Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize The Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize was created in 1977, in memory of Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British Ambassador to Ireland, who was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1976. Founded by his Widow Jane Ewart-Biggs (fol ...
for 1985. An Irish-language version of the play has been produced. The play has also been translated into
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
by
Elan Closs Stephens Dame Elan Closs Stephens (' Roberts; born 16 June 1948) is a Welsh educator and Wales' representative on the BBC Board. She specialises in cultural and broadcasting policy. She also serves as a non-executive director of the Welsh Government's Bo ...
. The Welsh version has visited a number of venues in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and was first published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, under its Welsh title ''Torri Gair'' ("Breaking the Word"), in 1982. ''Translations'' was adapted as a
radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
directed by Kirsty Williams, broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...
, on 4 September 2010 (see '' Translations (radio play)''). ''Translations'' was adapted for a Catalan audience in February, 2014 by Ferran Utzet, and performed at the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Library of Catalonia) in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
. It was produced by Perla 29. It was performed at the
Olivier Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
from 22 May to 11 August 2018, starring Colin Morgan as Owen and
Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds (; born 9 February 1953) is an Irish actor. Born in Belfast, Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'' (1989), ''Persuasion'' (19 ...
as his father. It was directed by
Ian Rickson Ian David Rickson (born 1963) is a British theatre director. He was the artistic director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006.
.


Inspirations and influences

Five years prior to writing ''Translations'', Friel mentioned a number of topics going through his mind: a play set sometime between the
Act of Union and the Great Famine in the 19th century; a play about
Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
and the
Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restrict ...
; a play about
colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their rel ...
; and a play about the death of the
Irish language Irish (an Caighdeán Oifigiúil, Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages, Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European lang ...
, the acquisition of English and its profound effects. During this time, Friel had made a couple of accidental discoveries: that his great-great-grandfather was a hedge-schoolmaster, leading Friel to read about hedge-schools in Ireland; and that the first trigonometrical base set up by the
Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...
in 1828 was next to his residence in Muff, leading him to read about the man in charge of the survey, Colonel Thomas Frederick Colby, who would later serve as inspiration for one of ''Translation's'' characters, Captain Lancey. Friel then discovered ''A Paper Landscape'' in 1976, which synthesized everything he had been thinking about into the perfect metaphor, map-making, serving as the foundation for his work. ''A Paper Landscape'' was written by John Hardwood Andrews and first published in 1975 by Oxford University Press. It examines the
Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...
's map-making operation in Ireland which began in 1824, with the first maps appearing between 1835 and 1846, and production continuing until almost the end of the century. "Friel's reading of
George Steiner Francis George Steiner, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the ...
's '' After Babel'' was absolutely essential to the creation of ''Translations.''"


Characters

* Manus - a scholar who is his late twenties/thirties who is one of Hugh's sons and lame. He speaks only Irish in front of the British, even though he knows how to speak English. He tries to teach Sarah how to speak. * Sarah - she has had a speech defect all her life, leading many in the town to consider her dumb. * Jimmy Jack Cassie - the "infant prodigy" is a bachelor in his sixties, who never washes or changes his clothes. Despite being fluent in both Latin and Greek, he still enjoys attending the hedge-school. * Máire - a strong woman in her twenties, she wants to learn English so that she can emigrate to America. * Doalty - a young man who sabotages the theodolite machine. He studies at the local hedge-school. * Bridget - a young girl with "a countrywoman's instinctive cunning". She studies at the local hedge-school. * Hugh - a large man in his late sixties, perpetually drunk. He is hedge-master at Baile Beag's hedge-school, often quizzing his students on the origins of words. * Owen - a well dressed, handsome young man in his twenties, who is also one of Hugh's sons. He is employed part-time by the British to provide English translations of place names in Ireland. The British mistakenly call him Roland. * Captain Lancey - a middle-aged officer, competent at cartography but lacking in social skills. * Lieutenant Yolland - in his late twenties/early thirties, with a tall awkward appearance. He is in Ireland by chance. Having missed his boat to India, he subsequently enlisted in the Army, was assigned to the Engineers, then posted to Dublin, and finally sent to Baile Beag with the Ordnance Survey. He often proclaims his admiration for the Irish culture and language despite being unable to speak it. He falls in love with Maire. * Donnelly Twins - they are referred to several times throughout the play, but are never shown on-stage.


Plot

The play is set in the quiet community of Baile Beag (later
anglicise Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influenc ...
d to Ballybeg), in
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...
, in 1833. Many of the inhabitants have little experience of the world outside the village. In spite of this, tales about Greek goddesses are as commonplace as those about the potato crops, and, in addition to Irish, Latin and Greek are spoken in the local hedge school. Friel uses language as a tool to highlight the problems of communication — lingual, cultural, and generational. Both Irish and English characters in the play "speak" their respective languages, but in actuality it is English that is mostly spoken by the actors. This allows the audience to understand all the languages, as if a translator was provided. However, onstage, the characters cannot comprehend each other. This is due to lack of compromise from both parties, the English and Irish, to learn the others' language, a metaphor for the wider barrier that is between the two parties. The action begins with Owen (mistakenly pronounced as Roland by his English friend), younger son of the alcoholic schoolmaster Hugh and brother to lame aspiring teacher Manus, returning home after six years away in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
. With him are Captain Lancey, a middle-aged, pragmatic
cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
, and Lieutenant Yolland, a young, idealistic and romantic orthographer, both working on the six-inch-to-the-mile map survey of Ireland for the
Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...
. Owen acts as a translator and go-between for the English and Irish. Yolland and Owen work to translate local placenames into English for purposes of the map: ''Druim Dubh'', which means "black shoulder" in Irish, becomes Dromduff in English, and ''Poll na gCaorach'', meaning "hole of the sheep" in Irish, becomes Poolkerry. While Owen has no qualms about
anglicising Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
the names of places that form part of his heritage, Yolland, who has fallen in love with Ireland, is unhappy with what he perceives as a destruction of Irish culture and language. A
love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with ...
between Yolland, Manus, and a local woman, Máire, complicates matters. Yolland and Máire manage to show their feelings for each other despite the fact that Yolland speaks only English and Máire only Irish. Manus, however, had been hoping to marry Máire, and is infuriated by their blossoming relationship. When he finds out about a kiss between the two he sets out to attack Yolland, but in the end cannot bring himself to do it. Unfortunately, Yolland goes missing overnight (it is hinted that he has been attacked, or worse, by the elusive armed resistance in the form of the Donnelly twins), and Manus flees because his heart has been broken but it is made obvious that the English soldiers will see his disappearance as guilt. It is suggested that Manus will be killed as he is lame and the English will catch up with him. Máire is in denial about Yolland's disappearance and remains convinced that he will return unharmed. The English soldiers, forming a search party, rampage across Baile Beag, and Captain Lancey threatens first to shoot all livestock if Yolland is not found within twenty-four hours, then evict the villagers and destroy their homes if he is not found within forty-eight hours. Owen then realizes what he should do and leaves, seemingly to join the resistance. The play ends ambiguously, with the schoolmaster Hugh drunkenly reciting the opening of Virgil's ''
Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...
'', which tells of the inevitability of conquest but also of its impermanence. Friel's play tells of the struggle between England and Ireland during this turbulent time. The play focuses mainly on (mis)communication and language to tell of the desperate situation between these two countries with an unsure and questionable outcome.


Themes


Politics

''Translations'' as a play focuses primarily on language issues through the lens of 19th century rural Ireland. However through the choice of setting, Friel reveals his attempt to maintain an ideological distance from the ongoing
Northern Irish Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
and the era's extremely divisive political climate.McGrath, F. C. 1999. Brian Friel’s (Post) Colonial Drama  : Language, Illusion, and Politics. Irish Studies. Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, (1999). 178. As Friel said of the process of dislocating ''Translations'' from the political context of the late 70's and early 80's, "I know of no Irish writer who is not passionately engaged in our current problems. But he must maintain perspective as a writer, and - equally important - he will write about the situation in terms that may not relate even remotely to the squalor of Here and Now."McGrath, F. C. 1999. Brian Friel’s (Post) Colonial Drama  : Language, Illusion, and Politics. Irish Studies. Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, (1999). 97-8. Friel saw ''Translations'', in his own words as, "...Stepping stones to the other side." In light of these quotations, ''Translations'' emerges as an attempt by Friel to reconcile the divided state of Northern Ireland. This goal was the explicit driving force behind the first production of ''Translations''. ''Translations'' premiered on 23 September 1980, in Derry's Guildhall, a symbol of Unionism in the politically divided city, the staging of the play there being an overt political message of reconciliation attempted by Friel. Within ''Translations'', the relationship between the British officer Yolland and Máire the native Irish speaker, points to the binary of political belief in Northern Ireland between Unionists and Republicans. The couple, who cannot speak one another's language, nevertheless fall in love, a potent message of reconciliation and co-existence to the politically divided communities of Northern Ireland. Friel marked ''Translations'' as trying to, "...find some kind of generosity that can embrace the whole island."


Post-Colonialism

The engagement of postcolonial scholars with ''Translations'' arises primarily through an examination of the language issues of 19th century Ireland. As Friel himself has emphasised, ''Translations'' is about "language and only language." However, the Irish language has often been interpreted not only as a mean of communication, but also as "a tool for resistance and a marker of identity". Language affects many aspects of one's life, and Translations shows "the power of language to give definition not only to thought, but also to history, ethnic identity and national aspiration". Friel's often quoted denial of the other themes in ''Translations'', is directly at odds with other statements, "...Of course, it's also concerned with the English presence here. No matter how benign they may think it has been, finally the presence of any foreigner in your land is malign." It has been suggested that Friel's creation of ''Translations'' was inspired by two colonising projects of the British. Firstly, the ending of independent 'hedgerow' schools which taught subjects in the Irish language, replaced with English language schools. The imposition of the new national school is, in part, an attempt by British colonialism to replace Irish by English as the sole medium of instruction. This change of the educational system, similar to the translation of the place names on the map, has been called the "rape of a country's linguistic and cultural heritage". As the Irish scholar Declan Kiberd remarks, "one of the first policies formulated by the Norman occupiers was to erase
Gaelic culture The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langu ...
". This historical context serves to demonstrate that the "language of any country is seen as a matter of identity, independence and 'sovereignty'". Secondly, the Ordnance Survey which sought to create standardisations of Irish maps, primarily through the Anglicisation of Irish place-names. Postcolonial scholar Shaun Richards argues that Friel uses these two historical events as the framing for his discussion of colonialism within ''Translations''. As
Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have ...
said, colonialism, "...turns to the past of the oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures and destroys it." In this sense, Friel highlights the destructive nature of the colonial projects depicted in ''Translations'', literally 'distorting' the landscape of Ireland by the Anglicisation of place-names and replacing the use of native language with a foreign one. The colonial projects depicted in ''Translations'' are used by Friel to discuss post-colonial tensions in modern Northern Ireland.
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''Whi ...
saw ''Translations'' as firmly within the post-colonial discourse, "Brian Friel’s immensely resonant play ''Translations''...immediately calls forth many echoes and parallels in an Indian, Algerian, or Palestinian reader...the silencing of their voices, the renaming of places and replacement of languages by the imperial outsider, the creation of colonial maps and divisions also implied the attempted reshaping of societies, the imposition of foreign languages and other forms of dispossession."


Language, identity and culture

a. For much of the play, it is understood that characters are speaking Irish, and the English characters cannot understand them. There are also several passages of
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
and
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
. Though Translations is written almost completely in English (with odd lines of Greek and Latin), Friel intended that the "English onstage represents two separate languages – the Irish we are asked to imagine and the English which is now the 'natural vehicle' for a play on an Irish stage". "Linguistic and cognitive distance" are shown between characters from the different linguistic parties: the Irish and English characters have been given different voices even though their speech is written in the same language. Friel's dramatic conceit allows the audience access to either side of the language barrier, making the misunderstandings and miscommunications between Yolland and Maire in the love scene evident. The "idioms and rhythms of Irish speech" are depicted through Doalty, Bridget and Jimmy Jack Cassie's speeches, contrasting to the British officer, Lancey, who speaks in the "clipped, efficient tones of the King's English", to emphasise the other central theme "colonialism". The idea of a 'doubleness' in response to the Irish-English language conflict is also represented in the play. Considered as "a mid-solution of the Old Gaelic tongue and the modern 'dominant' English", 'doubleness' would require Ireland "either to use an Irish version of English, which includes Gaelic expression, or to be a bi-lingual nation in which both Irish and English are acceptable". W. B. Spring Worthen has argued that in ''Translations'', Friel presents the Irish English to its audience by "trouble ngthe 'English' surfaces of the play, using Irish English in ways that keep its language 'other' to audiences whose English isn't Irish".


Criticism and interpretations

''Translations'' received a wide range of interpretations and reactions since its Derry staging. In spite of the irony of it being played in the
Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...
, "a symbol of Unionist power", the
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
weekly ''
An Phoblacht ''An Phoblacht'' (Irish pronunciation: ; en, "The Republic") is a formerly weekly, and currently monthly newspaper published by Sinn Féin in Ireland. From early 2018 onwards, ''An Phoblacht'' has moved to a magazine format while remaining a ...
'' wrote that "''Translations'' deals powerfully with a number of themes of particular interest to
Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
", and yet the unionist Lord Mayor of Derry led a standing ovation on opening night. Sean Connolly criticised the historical liberties taken in ''Translations'', writing that Friel "presents a grossly oversimplified view of the forces behind the abandonment of Irish." The philosopher Richard Kearney argued that ''Translations'' presented language not as a naming system, but as a way to find new relationships between the "sundered cultural identities of the island".


Historical inaccuracies

John H. Andrews challenged many of Friel's representations of the Ordnance Survey, concerned that they be taken as historically plausible or true. For example, anglicised place names were already being used throughout Ireland, so it is "dangerously ambiguous to describe what the Survey did as 'naming'." Many of the names on the new maps were already widely being used in Ireland, and that there were no laws or obligations to use any of the Ordnance Survey names. As well, the soldiers going on survey duty were presented in the play as "prodding every inch of ground with their bayonets", even though they historically would not have had bayonets. When Yolland, one of the Ordnance Survey officers, disappeared, Lancey threatened to retaliate by shooting live-stock and evicting people when in actuality, the soldiers would have left issues of crime and civil disturbance to the local constabulary. There were also inconsistencies in some of the dates. For example, Donegal had already been renamed by the time of the play in 1833, but was actually renamed in 1835, and the actual Yolland that Lieutenant Yolland is based on did not join the survey department until 1838. Kevin Barry organized a debate in 1983 between Friel and Andrews, where Friel admits to "tiny bruises inflicted on history in the play". Kevin Barry forgave the historical liberties that ''Translations'' makes, writing that it revealed the 'hidden Ireland', making use of the 'unreality of fiction in order to imagine answers' to questions that even the English mapmakers had about the Irish people. Even though it is a work of fictional drama, this aspect of it makes the work complementary to ''A Paper Landscape,'' which privileged the records of those who had the authority to write, while excluding those who were defeated.


Owen

Owen is "by far the most complex character onstage", embodying 'all the conflicts and tensions in the play'. Owen arrives as an interpreter for the English in the Irish village, establishing himself as a pivotal cog in the social fabric of Baile Beag. He is comfortable being called interchangeably as Owen by the locals and Roland by the British, yet denies his heritage - "my job is to translate the quaint, archaic tongue you people persist in speaking into the King's good English". While claiming to be the "same me"; he is not - he is one part Irish and one part British, and acts as a crucial go-between, a role which he also denies, leading him to be less concerned with the social repercussions of his work. In the play, he is responsible for bringing together Maire and Yolland, but refuses to take responsibility for the effects of his actions; without Owen to fill the gap at the center, the union is doomed - just like Baile Beag and the English force. Owen's role in the destruction of Baile Beag is alluded to by Hugh's drunken recitation of the Aeneid near the end of the play. The lines refer to Carthage, the legendary North African settlement of Dido, and, in history, the notorious thorn in ancient Rome's side that was finally sacked and conquered in the Third Punic War - by analogy the Romans are the British and the Carthaginians the Irish.


Historical references

* The Englishmen in the play are a detachment of the Royal Engineers and function as part of the
Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...
creating six inch maps of Ireland. The characters of Captain Lancey and Lieutenant Yolland are fictionalised representations of two real soldiers who took part in the survey: Thomas Frederick Colby and
William Yolland William Yolland CB, FRS FRSA (17 March 1810 – 4 September 1885) was an English military surveyor, astronomer and engineer, and was Britain's Chief Inspector of Railways from 1877 until his death. He was a redoubtable campaigner for railway ...
, but
Thomas Larcom Major-General Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom, Bart, PC FRS (22 April 1801 – 15 June 1879) was a leading official in the early Irish Ordnance Survey. He later became a poor law commissioner, census commissioner and finally executive head of the ...
has also been identified as a possible model for the lieutenant, with Owen based on his teacher, the Irish linguist
John O'Donovan John O'Donovan may refer to: *John O'Donovan (scholar) (1806–1861), Irish language scholar and place-name expert *John O'Donovan (politician) (1908–1982), Irish TD and Senator *John O'Donovan (police commissioner) (1858–1927), New Zealand pol ...
. * The character Máire contemplates emigration to
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
, reflecting the mass emigration of Irish people to America in the 19th century. The theme of emigration is key throughout the whole play, as Manus plans to leave after being offered a job in another hedge school. * There are fearful references to
potato blight ''Phytophthora infestans'' is an oomycete or water mold, a fungus-like microorganism that causes the serious potato and tomato disease known as late blight or potato blight. Early blight, caused by '' Alternaria solani'', is also often called ...
, anticipating the Great Famine of 1845–49 (the play is set in 1833). * Irish politician and nationalist hero
Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
is mentioned and quoted as saying that Irish people should learn English and that the Irish language was a barrier to modern progress. * Anglicisation of place names, including Baile Beag (the setting), is prominent in the dialogue, because it is Lieutenant Yolland's professional assignment. * A national school is to open in the town, replacing the existing hedge school. * Characters Hugh and Jimmy remember how they marched to battle during the
1798 rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced b ...
against the British influence in Ireland, only to march back home upon feeling homesick. * The play's focus on the Anglicization of names of the Irish towns and cities is based on the
Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...
during 1824–46, which was intended for more efficient work in tax regulations and military planning.


References


External links

* {{Brian Friel 1980 plays County Donegal in fiction Fiction set in 1833 Irish language Plays by Brian Friel Plays set in Ireland Plays set in the 19th century Translation