Jhumpa Lahiri on Translation as a Path to Self-Discovery

Author and translator Jhumpa Lahiri grew up in what she has called “a linguistic exile.” Born in London to Bengali immigrants who moved to the United States when she was 3, Lahiri experienced a profound sense of alienation as a child and a longing for somewhere that felt like home. Then, during a 1994 trip to Florence, Italy, she fell in love with the Italian language, which she came to see as a gateway to exploring her life and identity further—or to, in other words, get beyond any imposed self. For the last decade, she has written almost exclusively in Italian, and has translated most of her Italian writing into English herself. A visceral energy rises up from her translated sentences, reflective of the strong emotional tenor she feels when engaging with the Italian language. 

Some warned Lahiri against her decision to embrace Italian, practically considering it career suicide. But she remained unmoved. Despite her many triumphs until that point—including winning the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies (1999), and having her popular novel The Namesake (2003) turned into a Hollywood film—the pivot brought about a new flood of creativity. Since 2015, Lahiri has produced more books than there have been years, including her most recent, Translating Myself and Others (Princeton University Press), which was published in May. Her first book of Italian short stories, Racconti Italiani, or Roman Stories, will debut in the fall.

On this episode, Lahiri speaks with Spencer about translation as a political act, the vocabulary of architecture, and language as a portal to understanding one’s place in the world.

Special thanks to our Season 5 sponsor, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.

Show notes:

• Full transcript
• [12:35] The Lowland
• [16:33] Translating Myself and Others
• [22:32] The Clothing of Books
• [22:32] The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories
• [23:11] Whereabouts
• [25:00] Confidenza
• [25:12] Ovid’s Metamorphoses
• [33:41] In Other Words
• [36:14] Racconti Italiani
• [39:35] The Namesake
• [43:38] Interpreter of Maladies
• [47:53] Unaccustomed Earth
• [59:44] Jhumpa Lahiri on Charlie Rose
• [01:07:38] Philip Guston