The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how linguistic and translation issues
have always been Brian Friel’s main concerns. The language question in
Ireland is investigated in its multi-faceted implications in the light of Tom
Paulin’s pamphlet, A New Look at the Language Question (1985). Friel first
dramatises this question in Translations (1980) and then uses translation as
a powerful means of intercultural exchange in his Russian play, Three Sisters
(1981). According to drama translation theorist Aaltonen, the translation
of a foreign dramatic text, as well as its entire production, unavoidably
represents a “reaction to the Other” when it is chosen for a performance in
another culture. Therefore, Friel’s Three Sisters is seen as an ‘Irish reaction’
to Chekhov’s Russia.
