User:DianaChiu/sandbox

As language being the main subject in Translations as Brian Friel claims that it is a play "about language and only about language", my intention to contribute to this article will be develop a section on the analyssis on this theme.

Performance and publication section
citation added and fact checked: The director is Ian Rickson instead of Ian Rickman

It was performed at the Olivier Theatre from the 22nd May to the 11th August 2018, starring Colin Morgan as Owen and Ciarán Hinds as his father. It was directed by Ian Rickson.

Historical references section
information added

- The play's focus on the Anglicization of names of the Irish towns and cities is based on the Ordnance Survey during 1824-46, which was intended for more efficient work in tax regulations and military planning.

Notes section
changed to a section dedicated to the use of language as a theme

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 and Ancient Greek.

'' As Friel himself has emphasized, Translation is about "language and only language" despite that Irish language has always been interpreted not only as a mean of communication, but also as “a tool for resistance and a marker of identity”. Language in fact affects many aspect of one’s life, within this play in particular, as its subtext is showing "the power of language to give definition thought, but also to history, ethnic identity and national aspiration".

The imposition of the new national school, is an attempt of the English colonial to replace Irish by English as the sole medium of instruction. This change of the educational system in Ireland, similar to the translation of the place names on the map, can be considered as a "rape of a country's linguistic and cultural heritage". As the Irish scholar Declan Kiberd remarks in his book, “one of the first policies formulated by the Norman occupiers was to erase Gaelic culture”. This is an example showing that “language of any country is seen as a matter of identity, independence and ‘sovereignty’” that any colonizer will try to seize and replace with their own.

Though having Translation written 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 with different voices despite their speech are written in the same language. Being able to understand both side due to the Friel’s special dramatic setting of the language in Translations, the representation of the misunderstanding and miscommunication between England and Ireland through the unsuccessful expression of their love affection between Yolland and Maire becomes evident to the audience.

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 emphasize the other central theme “colonialism”. Within the historical context, the Irish people's revival of their Gaelic language, the study points out a modern survey about the Irish language done by the Irish government in 1975: the results of this survey are reported by Kiberd who indicates that "despite a widespread love of Irish language, few persons believed that it would ".

The idea of a “doubleness” in response to the Irish English language conflict brought up by Irish writers is also represented in this play. Considered as “a mid-solution of the Old Gaelic tongue and the modern ‘dominant’ English”, it represents to “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”. In Translations, Friel presents the Irish English to its audience by “trouble[ing] the ‘English’ surfaces of the play, using Irish English in ways that keep its language ‘other’ to audiences whose English isn't Irish".

REFERENCES list
Boltwood, Scott Matthews Peter. (1996). “A Deposition of Colonialism, and Myths: Nationalism, Post- Identity in Irish Drama 1850- 1990”.DAI. 5710A.

Canby, Vincent. “THEATER REVIEW: TRANSLATIONS; Linking Language and Identity in Friel Territory Long Ago.” The New York Times Archives, The New York Times, 20 Mar. 1995, www.nytimes.com/1995/03/20/theater/theater-review-translations-linking-language-identity-friel-territory-long-ago.html.

Kiberd, Declan. (1996). Inventing Ireland. London, Jonathan Cape.

Kitishat, Amal Riyadh. “Language And Resistance In Brian Friel's Translations.” International Journal of Linguistics and Literature (IJLL), vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 1–8. ACADEMIA, www.academia.edu/7852795/LANGUAGE_AND_RESISTANCE_IN_BRIAN_FRIELS_TRANSLATIONS.

Klein, Bernhard. (1998). On the Uses of History in Recent Irish Writing. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007.

Roche, Anthony. (2006). The Cambridge Companion to Brian Friel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Schmitt-Kilb, Christian. “The End(s) of Language in Brian Friel’s Translations and Enda Walsh’s Disco Pigs and Misterman.” Scenario, vol. 3, no. 2, 2009, pp. 61–70., research.ucc.ie/scenario/2009/02/schmittkilb/05/en.

Worthen, W. B. Spring. (1995). "Homeless Words: Field Day and the Politics of Translations". Modern Drama. 38.1 22-41.

EVALUATION on the article Translations
Lead section

The article has a clear and detailed overview to provide general information such as the play's setting,themes and some historical background to the public. Key words are linked to related pages for readers seeking for broader knowledge.

Structure The article seems well structured as all subtitles represents and corresponds to the contents underneath each of them. Yet, I would put the section of Historical references prior to the section of Plot. Since the play is built within a real historical context, understanding the historical circumstances is necessary for a better understanding of the plot as it might be directly or indirectly influenced by what happened prior to when the play is written.

Content balance

The content doesn't appears to be well balanced as I believe that more aspects need to be incorporated to the article to achieve such goal. References to the historical background are provided for better understanding of the play, but other aspects such as symbolism and themes should be developed as well. However, they only get mentioned roughly at the lead section: Friel responds strongly to both political and language questions in the modern-day Republic of Ireland. ; and in the end of the Plot section: ''Friel's play tells of the struggle between England and Ireland during this turbulent time. The play focusses mainly on (mis)communication and language to tell of the desperate situation between these two countries with an unsure and questionable outcome.''

Neutral tone

The article is mostly written in an objective tone because the major contributions are facts stating. Sometimes I find that words and adjectives employed describing the work are prone to praise the author, yet no opposite point of view is suggested in the article. There are also several personal value statements that doesn't concludes into a neutral tone, or they are examples of non-cited material.

Sourcing

Quotes/facts aren't quoted all the time. I believe that the 4th source isn't cited properly as the linked page doesn't contain any related information to the article. The editor mentions that the information is retrieved on Sept. 15 2014, but the information on the page is up to date, so this source is probably outdated. The section of Performance and publication is extremely well cited except for the last performance, which is very recent. In general, the list of references to the article appears to be good sourcing materials.

Content

Everything mentioned in the article is relevant to the subject, though some information are misplaced or should be arranged into new sections in order to avoid confusions and distractions. Except for one of the source that I noticed is out of date maybe because of some removal of content, the article's information seems to be very up to date especially in the Performance and publication section where the newest production of the year of 2018 is also included, yet not cited. Missing sources are indeed required, though the development of new sub-contents are necessary to enrich this article, too.

Talk page

No discussion related to the main topic is generated in the past but one technical advisement on fixing external URL links is mentioned. The article is rated start class in all of the related WikiProjects including: WikiProject Ireland, WikiProject Theatre and WikiProject Linguistics/ Applied Linguistics. It is also rated low-importance in the former two WikiProjects, but it is an important subject to the class of Irish Theatre.

Suggestion Perhaps the information in the section of Performance and Publication can be organized into the form of a tableau to make everything stands out and clearer/more organized to the public.