Is Translations about Language or Politics?

Is Translations about Language or politics?

Friel famously said of Translations, “it is about language and only

language.” However, the political statement which Friel denies need

not be active, but passive, as seeking an understanding of the

situation must consider politics, however Friel actively avoids

political comment perhaps due to the volatile situation in the 1980s

when the play was first put on.

D.H. Lawrence famously said, “ Never trust the teller, trust the tale”

and with that in mind, I wish to explore the reasons why audiences and

readers may perceive translations as a political play.

The action of the play over three acts shows the profoundly disturbing

influence of the English domination over the Baile Beag community and

its life. Lenin once said, “politics is who whom” considering who acts

and who is acted upon. Exploring politics from this point of view, one

is easily able to perceive the numerous political aspects of the play.

One such clearly political aspect of the play is the colonial force

arriving from England. A movement of armies from one country to

another, is a clearly political act, “a gesture”, “to indicate a

presence” as was Doalty’s movement of the Theodolyte.

On the other hand, if the play is about language (as Friel says) then

perhaps it is about language on two levels. On the one hand it

considers language on an international level (for example, the Irish

and English languages) whilst on the other it considers language on an

interpersonal level, the way perhaps we “interpret between privacies”

or our choice of individual words in our speech.

There are numerous ways in which one may consider the play to be about

national language. Many would consider language as ...

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...haracters acting as a mouthpiece for

Friel’s political points of view, and because of this, I believe

Friel’s play must concern politics to some degree.

In conclusion I believe Friel is telling a half-truth, when he says

the play is about “language and only language.” This is true insofar

as the only issue the play is directly and aggressively considering is

the importance of language. However, I believe Friel knew all to well

that anyone watching of reading the play would have to consider

politics, at least on a social level, in order to fully understand the

importance of the social and national issues in the play. Therefore,

Friel’s play is neither a play solely about language (as he asserts)

or solely about politics; the two are inextricably linked leaving us

with a socio-political play which emphasizes the importance of

language as a political tool.