Brian Friel’s 1980 play Translations tells the story of the fictional Donegal village of Baile Beag during the First Ordnance Survey of Ireland – a mapping of the country and anglicizing the Irish names of the places. The major theme of the play is language, and more specifically how the loss of a language can also help erase people’s history, culture and identity. In the 1800s Ireland was still a predominantly Gaelic-speaking nation. In 1975, only 2.7% of Irish speakers possessed a native speaker ability and about 80% were found to be indifferent towards the language (Brannigan, 71). Friel’s play offers us a glimpse of how this enormous decline of Irish occurred. Although the Irish language and Gaelic culture suffered an immense decline during
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In 1835 there were around 4,000,000 Irish speakers, in 1891 – 680,000 (Gaeilge.org). The major culprit was the Great Famine. The areas with the largest percentage of Irish speakers were rural and economically undeveloped and therefore were affected the most by the Famine. It also caused mass emigration to the USA, which necessitated the learning of English. It is also when the National Schools were established to provide free elementary education for everyone. But the students in these schools were taught in English (Doyle, 118). In 1835 there were around four million Irish speakers, by 1891 that number had been reduced 680000 …show more content…
Owen at first tries to brush off the English calling him a wrong name – Roland (“…Owen – Roland – what the hell. It’s only a name. It’s the same me, isn’t it? Well, isn’t it?” (Friel, 37). But his “what’s in a name” philosophy doesn’t last long as he later unsuccessfully tries to correct Yolland. Names are not simply names – they can reveal qualities of the named object or person, and even carry history in them, history which will be erased once they are Anglicized. To quote Thomas Davis again: ‘The hills, and lakes, and rivers, the forts and castles, the churches and parishes, the baronies and counties around you, have all Irish names--names which describe the nature of the scenery or ground, the name of founder, or chief, or priest, or the leading fact in the history of the place. To you these are names hard to pronounce, and without meaning [...] And yet it were well for you to know them. That knowledge would be a topography, and a history, and romance, walking by your side, and helping your discourse. Meath tells its flatness, Clonmel the abundant riches of its valley, Fermanagh is the land of the Lakes’ (Davis). Furthermore, when Owen and Yolland are renaming the places, they almost feel as if they are gods who create the places just by giving them a new name: ‘Eden’s right! We name a thing and – bang! – it leaps into existence!’ (Friel, 56). Owen’s character also reveals another aspect of language, or
In 1835 there were around 4,000,000 Irish speakers, in 1891 – 680,000 (Gaeilge.org). The major culprit was the Great Famine. The areas with the largest percentage of Irish speakers were rural and economically undeveloped and therefore were affected the most by the Famine. It also caused mass emigration to the USA, which necessitated the learning of English. It is also when the National Schools were established to provide free elementary education for everyone. But the students in these schools were taught in English (Doyle, 118). In 1835 there were around four million Irish speakers, by 1891 that number had been reduced 680000 …show more content…
Owen at first tries to brush off the English calling him a wrong name – Roland (“…Owen – Roland – what the hell. It’s only a name. It’s the same me, isn’t it? Well, isn’t it?” (Friel, 37). But his “what’s in a name” philosophy doesn’t last long as he later unsuccessfully tries to correct Yolland. Names are not simply names – they can reveal qualities of the named object or person, and even carry history in them, history which will be erased once they are Anglicized. To quote Thomas Davis again: ‘The hills, and lakes, and rivers, the forts and castles, the churches and parishes, the baronies and counties around you, have all Irish names--names which describe the nature of the scenery or ground, the name of founder, or chief, or priest, or the leading fact in the history of the place. To you these are names hard to pronounce, and without meaning [...] And yet it were well for you to know them. That knowledge would be a topography, and a history, and romance, walking by your side, and helping your discourse. Meath tells its flatness, Clonmel the abundant riches of its valley, Fermanagh is the land of the Lakes’ (Davis). Furthermore, when Owen and Yolland are renaming the places, they almost feel as if they are gods who create the places just by giving them a new name: ‘Eden’s right! We name a thing and – bang! – it leaps into existence!’ (Friel, 56). Owen’s character also reveals another aspect of language, or