The drama of naming Ireland: Brian Friel's translations and the communication cord Article

Hutchinson, G. (2001). The drama of naming Ireland: Brian Friel's translations and the communication cord . 49(2), 121-134. 10.1179/nam.2001.49.2.121

cited authors

  • Hutchinson, G

authors

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. © 2001 by The American Name Society.

publication date

  • January 1, 2001

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 121

end page

  • 134

volume

  • 49

issue

  • 2