Vol. 49 No. 2 (2001)
Research Article

The Drama of Naming Ireland: Brian Friel's Translations and The Communication Cord

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  • Glenn Hutchinson
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/nam.2001.49.2.121

Published 2001-06-01

Copyright (c) 2001 Maney

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Abstract

Irish playwright Brian Friel explores the complexity of names as they relate to Gaelic culture and British imperialism. In Translations, Friel dramatizes the 19th century British Ordance Survey which attempted to standardize and Anglicize the names of geographic features of Ireland. I suggest a paradox of naming: reacting to the British Empire's naming as colonization, Irish nostalgia for national origins fictionalizes around the names of the past. Because of the British “misnaming,” the Irish must create a new past through an impossible search for “authentic” names.

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