Reading Process and Construction of Meaning (Main Reference: Translations by Brian Friel

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The reading of any text is considered to be a process. The construction of such texts involves a key process which can be summarised into: what ideas does the author want to convey; what medium will he convey these ideas through; who is his intended audience for these ideas, and how will the actual audience interpret the ideas that the author conveys in his text. This is essentially the first step in the construction of meaning in a literary text through the process of reading. What makes the meaning of a text so open to interpretation is the fact that each and every individual will have different and widely varying personal contexts from each other and what they bring to the text in terms of their understanding of language and how it is used, the assumptions that they hold due to their personal context and life experiences, the breadth and depth of both their wider reading experiences and knowledge and understanding of reading practices; this is in effect, the second half of the meaning-making process of reading. In reference to Brian Friel’s stage drama Translations (1980), we can see that the ideas that Friel attempts to convey in his drama through the lives of a small community of Irish locals living in Baile Beag (ideas which are influenced by his own personal context and context of the production) to the Irish audience naturally has its limitations to what it can offer in the construction of meaning; as such, through examining the themes of Friel’s Translations closely, in particular the importance of cultural heritage and history, the importance of moving on and progressing as individuals and as a nation and the fact that violence will not solve anything, we can dissect and determine how audience responses to the play will vary on the audience’s context based on what Friel has provided with their own understanding of language, personal social and cultural

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