Translators and identity in Jhumpa Lahiri’s transfiction

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates the presence of fictional translators in three works by Jhumpa Lahiri, asking what their underlying function is across the author’s English- and Italian-language texts. These figures are analysed with a view to teasing out their characteristics, and are then compared to identify patterns, analogies, and differences. Lahiri’s works have been often compared to those of other writers. This article, instead, singles out the fictional translators in her own works, belonging to different phases of her career. Lahiri’s fictional and fictionalised translators can be interpreted as figurative milestones in the author’s creative path and, hence, are closely connected to the theme of identity. They function as alter egos and shed light on the interplay between transfiction, exophony, and identity.