Discourse, Displacement, and Cultural Identity: The Role of Language in Brian Friel’s The Freedom of the City and Translations

Abstract

This thesis examines the transformation in the role of language during the Troubles by focusing on Friel’s The Freedom of the City and Translations. Previous research has looked at the discourse of Freedom that underscores the power of institutions within the play, while research into Translations followed George Steiner’s theories of After Babel in the assertion that all communication is a form of translation. Building on these ideas, this thesis highlights Friel’s representation of the Irish cultural and sociopolitical situation of early 1970s and his shift towards a linguistic ideology in the 1980s. It looks at the discourse in Freedom’s portrayal of media reports, political campaigns, and the characteristic motivations which are juxtaposed against the individual protagonists. This is compared to Translations depiction of language and cultural identity in the context of the 1830s Ordnance Survey as a milestone of cultural displacement and erosion. This displays Friel’s negative outlook on the oppressive role of language within discourse compared to the existence of Irishness within English as a means of reclaiming a cultural identity in history.