The Serbian Shaw

This article provides a close reading of the Serbian Pygmalion in order to show whether the text (especially Eliza’s lines) has retained or lost some of its vitality in the translation by Borivoje Nedić, one of the finest Serbian translators. The analysis shows that although most of the techniques used by Nedić are appropriate, different translation solutions in specific cases would be more adequate in conveying the play’s main notion that language reveals one’s social class and shapes one’s identity.