When "Les Belles-sœurs" premiered in Paris, France in 1973 as it was originally written, in "joual", it was met with some initial criticism. One critic described it as difficult to understand as ancient Greek. Tremblay responded, "a culture should always start with speak to herself. The ancient Greeks spoke to each other". The popularity of the play has since caused it to be translated into multiple languages, raising controversies in the translation community over retaining the authenticity of "Les Belles-sœurs" even when not performed in the original dialect of "joual".