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I was listening to this one song and got a little confused about its meaning.

There seems to be a guy talking a bout himself, and then he talks about a girl who either, supposedly, would talk about herself, or about the guy.

例えば俺が俺じゃないいとして、お前はお前だと言いきれるのか

What is the correct translation?

A: What if I was not myself, would you be able to say that you are yourself?

B: What if I was not myself, would you be able to say "You are yourself"?

I feel that by context A is the correct one, but B is the one that looks like a direct quotation in my opinion?

In order to A make sense gramatically (in my surely mistaken opinion) would be:

例えば俺が俺じゃないとして、お前はお前を言いきれるのか

I feel like this is wrong, but I want to confirm...

Thanks in advance.

Source: https://utaten.com/lyric/cinema+staff/great+escape/

EDIT:

My problem is with the last と particle, I have no problem understanding the と in として.

Felipe Chaves de Oliveira
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  • `Is the と particle quotation literal or context matters?` You example sentence has 2 と's in it. Please clarify which one you mean. – istrasci Apr 26 '18 at 14:49
  • @istrasci isn't the "quotation" clarifying what particle i'm talking about? – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira Apr 26 '18 at 15:34
  • @FelipeOliveira No, both と are the quotation と – Sweeper Apr 26 '18 at 19:36
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    It's clear to me, yes. But it may not be clear to everyone who views this topic, particularly beginners. – istrasci Apr 26 '18 at 19:42
  • @Sweeper として is considered quotation? didn't know about that, you can also understand by the context which particle i'm talking about. But, I'll make it clearer in case any beginners stumble upon it – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira Apr 26 '18 at 20:25
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    This might help with the を versus と: [What is the difference between using を and と with the verb 言う?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/12755/what-is-the-difference-between-using-%e3%82%92-and-%e3%81%a8-with-the-verb-%e8%a8%80%e3%81%86). I'm by no means an authority so please wait for someone more knowledgeable to answer but I'm pretty sure ~と言う can be used for indirect quotes as you have in **A**. – G-Cam Apr 27 '18 at 02:11
  • @G-Cam thank you, I’ll study the link ^ ^ – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira Apr 27 '18 at 03:28
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    It also might help to understand what the term quotative means. It may not mean what you think. – virmaior Apr 27 '18 at 10:15
  • @virmaior a direct quote would be "..." or 「...」, an indirect quote is probably what i'm having problems with – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira Apr 27 '18 at 12:41
  • who said what comes before a quotative is always a quote? – virmaior Apr 27 '18 at 13:19
  • @virmaior not sure, i'm not a linguistic (not that you've gotta be one to know that but), I guess I just supposed it that way. – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira Apr 27 '18 at 13:23

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