February 29th, 2016 Jhumpa Lahiri visited Mount Holyoke College and discussed language and identity, possibly two names for the same thing.
At 6:20 pm, I walked into Chapin to find that the auditorium was packed. Students, faculty, members of the community crowded into rows and rows of black chairs, ready and waiting to hear Jhumpa Lahiri speak about her new book, In Altre Parole (In Other Words), written in Italian. The Odyssey Bookshop was selling signed copies of her latest book at a table near the back. At 6:30 pm, Ombretta Frau, a Mount Holyoke Italian Professor and Chair of the Classics and Italian Department, gave a warm welcome to the audience and introduced Lahiri.
For the first segment of the program, Professor Frau asked prepared questions about Lahiri’s book, then followed questions from the audience. Both segments swirled around similar topics: Lahiri’s relationship with Italian, her decision to stop reading and writing in English altogether and move to Rome, her writing process, and what the relationship between identity and language meant to her. She stated at one point that as a writer, she was not interested in comfortability, and writing in Italian is never comfortable. She explained how even though technically English is her strongest language, it feels more foreign than Italian to her. She admitted it was strange. She continued to articulate how she has been seeking a mother tongue, a home for a long time, and while she feels that Italian is not her home when she’s using it, she doesn’t feel the need to keep searching. She said at one point, writers don’t get to choose their demons, their reality, none of us do. What writers do get to choose is how they manipulate their reality.
As I listened to Lahiri speak in her slow, relaxed, and thoughtful way, I was in awe of her insight and wisdom into the world of language and writing. I was typing what she said down as quickly as possible on my phone. Her words struck me as perceptive and precise. She had given these topics deep thought and care. She has sought out experiences that are uncomfortable, that let her grow and experience life.
Leaving Chapin, Lahiri’s book in hand, my mind only wanted to think over what she had said. I wanted to explore what my relationship was with English. (I decided we’re like partners in crime; we’re a team.) That night, she inspired me to think about writing and language in a way that renewed my appreciation for the gift of words and stories. Honestly, it’s hard for me to describe the perspective she left me with, one that strives to be authentic, “to be understood, and to understand myself,”* as Lahiri says in altre parole.
*Lahiri, Jhumpa. In Other Words. Trans. Ann Goldstein. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. Print. (quotation is taken from page fifty-nine)
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