The analysis of irony in translations of Biljana Srbljanović’s plays

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the issue of translating irony in Biljana Srbljanović’s plays. In order to do that, the author investigates various theoretical approaches to this issue, focusing mainly on theories arguing with the traditional definition of irony as a binary opposition between what is said and what is meant. Many of these works define irony rather as a polyphonic structure with contextual meanings. Based on that, the author concludes that irony cannot be merely translated from one language to another, but instead needs to be recreated in the structure and textual environment of translated works. The efficiency of this process depends on the translator’s abilities to properly read and interpret meanings of the original text.