Translations

Names assume a symbolic significance in Translations, illustrating the connection between language and identity. It is no accident that the log of location names compiled by Owen and Yolland is referred to as the Name Book, a title which bespeaks the very personal nature of the Irish-to-English translations within it. While Yolland and Owen initially diverge over the value of paying homage to Irish history in these names (as in their debate over the long-forgotten story of Tobair Vree), Owen recognizes the importance of these names when Baile Beag is threatened by Yolland’s disappearance (53). Captain Lancey arrives at the schoolhouse and tellingly threatens the villagers by reading a list of locations that will be evicted and burned if Yolland is not found, giving a new kind of gravity to this list of new names. As Lancey reads the anglicized place names, Owen translates them back to the old Irish in a kind of elegiac tribute (80). 

Sarah’s name is another motif through which Friel illuminates the personal power of language. In Act I, Sarah’s successful pronunciation of her name—with the help of Manus—represents different kinds of hope for both of them (for