Translations
Place on List:
III. Period: 1960 - 2009
4. Primary
Texts: Drama
Brian
Friel. *Translations.
(1980)
Supporting References:
- "Translations." . : , 2005-01-01. Oxford Reference. 2006-01-01. Date Accessed 2 Sep. 2013
“Quick Reference.
A: Brian Friel Pf: 1980, Derry, Northern Ireland Pb:
1981 G: Hist. drama in 3 acts S: Hedge-school in a
barn, County Donegal, Ireland, 1833 C: 7m, 3fIn the fictional
village of Baile Beag (Ballybeg), Hugh, a 60-year-old who is fond of
his drink, runs the ‘hedge-school’ with the help of his lame son
Manus. A new ‘National School’ is being built, and Hugh has
applied for the post of teacher there. The other innovation in the
area is the arrival of British soldiers (‘Redcoats’), who are
engaged in an ordnance survey of the country. Manus opens up the
school, since his father has not yet staggered back from a local
christening. Manus tries to get the seemingly dumb Sarah to speak;
teaches Maire, Bridget, and Doalty, all in their twenties; and
exchanges Greek and Latin tags with 60-year-old Jimmy Jack Cassie,
who is fluent in both languages. Eventually, it becomes clear that
they are all speaking Irish, for this is the Gaeltacht, an
Irish-speaking community. There is talk of missing Redcoats' horses,
of the risk of potato blight, and of the fact that only English will
be spoken in the new National School. Hugh eventually arrives, but is
soon surprised by the return after six years of a younger son Owen,
now the wealthy owner of several shops in Dublin. Owen acts as
interpreter for the English soldiers, diplomatically translating
Captain Lancey's colonialist undertaking to make it sound as though
the map-making will benefit the locals. Owen and Lancey's subordinate
Lieutenant Yolland translate Irish place names into Anglicized
versions for the map. Yolland develops an affection and respect for
the place and its language. Manus is offered the post of teacher on a
little offshore island, hoping that this might induce Maire to come
with him, but Yolland and Maire, despite difficulties of
communication, fall in love with each other. The next day Yolland has
gone missing, a probable victim of Irish rebels, and Manus decides to
go away, although Owen warns him that this will make him a prime
suspect. The army threatens to raze the area and evict everyone, if
Yolland is not found. The army camp goes up in flames. Hugh learns
that he is not to be made the teacher of the new school, but Maire,
now mentally unbalanced, wants him to teach her English.
A: Brian
Friel Pf: 1980, Derry, Northern Ireland Pb: 1981 G:
Hist. drama in 3 acts S: Hedge-school in a barn, County
Donegal, Ireland, 1833 C: 7m, 3f
“Friel became
Ireland's leading playwright, and this is probably his finest play,
in which he discovers a sophisticated metaphor for British
colonialism in Ireland, with well-meaning but disastrous
‘translation’ of its subtle language and remarkably sophisticated
culture into alien forms – an impoverishment for the rulers as well
as for the natives. This was the first production of the Field Day
Theatre Company, which set out to give a voice to the local community
of Londonderry or Derry (itself a city with two names, each
representing one side of the sectarian divide). At a time when
languages are dying out, and with it community identity and dignity,
at the rate of one every two weeks, Friel's play seems particularly
relevant.”
- Welch, Robert. "Friel, Brian." The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. : Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference. 2003. Date Accessed 16 Aug. 2013
The following references the writer
and not the text specifically.
“Friel, Brian (1929– ), dramatist; born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone,
and educated at St Columb's College, Derry, Maynooth (which he left
after two years), and St Joseph's College, Belfast. He worked as a
teacher in Derry until 1960. In 1967 he moved to Donegal, first to
Muff and in 1982 to Greencastle. Two collections of short stories,
The Saucer of Larks (1962) and The Gold in the Sea
(1966), display a strong sense of place. The Enemy
Within, produced by the Abbey
Theatre in 1962, revealed his command as a
dramatist. Philadelphia,
Here I Come! (1964) confronted traditional
Irish subject-matter in a stimulating and original form. A series of
related plays explored the theme of love, The Loves
of Cass McGuire (1966), Lovers
(1967), and Crystal
and Fox (1968). They were followed by The
Mundy Scheme (1969), a political satire, and The Gentle
Island (1971), whose ironic title masks a violent confrontation
between myth and reality. In the early 1970s the Troubles
in the North of Ireland drew Friel into an artistic response,
resulting in two contrasting plays, The Freedom
of the City (1973), a direct reaction to
contemporary events, and Volunteers
(1975), a more symbolic treatment of Irish history. In Living
Quarters (1977) he turned to the family unit in
dissolution, a theme given a historical dimension in Aristocrats
(1979). The four monologues used in Faith
Healer (1979) testify to his search for a
dramatic technique that can marry content and form. With the
foundation of Field
Day Theatre Company in 1980 Friel's career took
a new turn. The first production was his own Translations
(1980), a play about the mapping of Ireland by the Ordnance Survey in
the 1830s which became a landmark in the debate over historical
revisionism. There followed two more Field Day productions of Friel
plays: Chekhov's Three Sisters (1981), and The
Communication
Cord (1982), a sister play to Translations.
Friel's next play for Field Day, Making
History (1988), showed him relating questions
of myth and history to cultural and ideological debate. With Dancing
at Lughnasa (1990) a new play by Friel was
premièred by the Abbey for the first time since 1979. In content
this play represents a return to an autobiographical strand in his
work. In Wonderful Tennessee (1993) three couples confront
their own and each other's failures against a backdrop of nature with
hints of ritual and mystery. Molly Sweeney (1994), at the
Gate
Theatre, returns to the dramatic structure of
Faith Healer, where different voices offer their
constructions of events. Give Me Your Answer, Do! (1997)
returns to the familial tensions of Aristocrats, save that
here the realm of imagination is pitted against necessity. The play
emits a strange aloof calm and radiance. Friel's work explores the
tensions between tradition and change in individuals and in society.
His plays investigate the inner spaces that shape the belief and
passion which determine outer actions. See Alan Peacock (ed.), The
Achievement of Brian Friel (1992).”
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