Cultural Misrepresentation Jhumpa Lahiri’s Navigation of Indian Culture in the Role of a Cultural Translator in Interpreter of Maladies

Abstract

In this essay, the short stories in Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri are critically examined through the lens of her position as a second-generation Bengali American, whose upbringing as the child of immigrants positions her as a bridge between the South Asian American population and its literature. She acts as a translator for the cultural community of Indians living away from their homeland and trying to adjust to the ways of the West. The critique of her role as a translator is that she magnifies the differences between the East and the West and glorifies the homeland. Two main problems emerge in Lahiri’s writings. One is the misinterpretation or stereotyping of Indian culture that is evident in some of her selected short stories. Rather than transcending the difference between language and culture (as is expected of a translator), she extends it. The second is her looking at the East through the oriental lens and positioning herself as an Occidental observer. Lahiri’s background allows her to take an Occidental or Western view of South Asian culture, and in doing so, she distances herself from the culture she engages with. The argument made here is that her stories do not give voice to the voiceless; instead, they create stereotypes and further silence an entire community.