Jumpha Lahiri on Self-Translation: A Focus on Metaphors

This article looks at self-translation in a selection of Jhumpa Lahiri’s works including In Other Words (In altre parole) and Translating Myself and Others. Defined by Lahiri as the most complicated issue that she has ever faced in her creative life, self-translation continues to be at the centre of attention of her work and life, as it is inextricably linked to issues of linguistic identity. This article uses aspects of Conceptual Metaphor Theory to provide a comparative analysis of one of the most pervasive metaphors in the above-mentioned works – LANGUAGE IS A PERSON – and its micrometaphors. Analysis of these shows that a network of interlinked metaphors constructs a narrative in which self-translation emerges as a dynamic and fluid concept related to the specific context of Lahiri’s biography, particularly to her experiences with translation and with learning and writing in Italian.