Jhumpa lahiri believes that American literature is overrated
Indian American author Jhumpa lahiri believes that American literature is massively overrated and that current reading habits are transformed by the mainstream.
lahiri was in conversation with American author Jonathan Frazen, British writer Jim Crace and Chinese author Xiaolu Guo who has also written books in English during the session The Global Novel.
“It is shameful that there is lack of translation in the American market. I know I am making a judgment, but I guess that is what it is. living out of the US gives you a completely different perspective,” said the author. Panelists at the session were unanimous that the English language served as a common bridge to link different cultures and reach out to more people.
lahiri’s most recent fiction The lowland, a tale of two brothers set in Kolkata of the 1960s was nominated for the 2013 Man Booker Prize but did not win it. The london-born daughter of immigrants from West Bengal who is famed for her novels and short stories about immigrant experiences relocated to Italy two years ago. She said she felt compelled to compare the literary scenario in America and in Italy.
“I was very surprised to find the number of translated books in Italy. Seven of their best books of the year were translations of works from different countries,” she said. The author said she was currently reading in Italian to overcome her superficial knowledge of literature in that language. I have lived in America and was exposed to Anglophone literature like many of you. But it was freeing to see such kind of recognition given to other works in other countries,” lahiri said.
lahiri said she never knew how a book would eventually turn out or what its climax entailed. “I never have an idea in my mind beforehand. I just expect to be happy and satisfied when I am finished with the book,” she said.
lahiri said her next novel would be in Italian, a language she learnt as an adult. The writer is now living in Rome and said that this would be a challenge as this book was not set in the familiar Bengali background with Kolkata as a silent but ever-present companion. “But the story will be about a Bengali,” she said with a smile. But why is Kolkata always present like a silent but stoic character in her novelsIJ “Because of my Bengali parents; when they shifted to the United States, they took
Kolkata with them. They could never forget the city, which was always there with them. I grew up with this Kolkata — a city I had not seen but would hear about day and night.” lahiri also talked about the motherhood and how her two kids shaped her latest novel, The lowland, a story of two brothers, one of whom would die in unfortunate circum- stances.