If certain books are to be termed 'immigrant fiction,' what do we call the rest? Native fiction? Puritan fiction? This distinction doesn't agree with me.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
Oddly, I feel more protected when I write in Italian, even though I'm also more exposed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing in a foreign language provides both a sense of safety and vulnerability.
In this quote, Jhumpa Lahiri expresses the paradox of writing in a non-native language, Italian, where she feels a protective barrier because it is separate from her personal life while simultaneously feeling more exposed due to the challenge and intimacy required in using a foreign tongue. This duality highlights the complexities of identity, expression, and the therapeutic aspects of language.
Themes
LanguageWritingIdentityExposureProtection
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop discussing the emotional journey of multilingual writers.
More from Jhumpa Lahiri
All quotes βWhen I sit down to write, I don't think about writing about an idea or a given message. I just try to write a story which is hard enough.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
When I am experiencing a complex story or novel, the broader planes, and also details, tend to fall away.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
I think each time you start a story or novel or whatever, you are absolutely at the bottom of the ladder all over again. It doesn't matter what you've done before.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
The sky was different, without color, taut and unforgiving. But the water was the most unforgiving thing, nearly black at times, cold enough, I knew, to kill me, violent enough to break me apart. The waves were immense, battering rocky beaches without sand. The farther I went, the more desolate it became, more than any place I'd been, but for this very reason the landscape drew me, claimed me as nothing had in a long time.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
On the technical side, I hope that my writing is evolving and maturing, ripening, deepening.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
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