ABSTRACT
This opening chapter focuses on the experience of Jhumpa Lahiri as a writer who migrates from the comfortable and mastered zone of the English language to the unfamiliar, challenging, and rewarding process of writing in Italian. The reading is taken from the book In altre parole and is entitled “Le metamorfosi” – that extraordinary moment in which the author chooses the only possible path to new geographical, cultural, and linguistic spaces in which she may reside in a state of constant wonder. For the author, choosing another language constitutes a subversive act: “I renounce expertise to challenge myself. I trade certainty for uncertainty.” Relinquishing authority means embracing the freedom of imperfection and gaining a new perspective and “an even more multifaceted life.” The main message of this chapter is that language is transformational for identity. Embracing a new language also represents a political act, as it allows us to cross geographical and cultural boundaries and experience a renewed sense of freedom.
