Jhumpa Lahiri and Chiara Barzini have explored writing in a hybrid space blending English and Italian, moving beyond binary language choices. In their conversation, they describe producing multilingual drafts for current projects and challenge publishing norms that demand monolingual texts. Lahiri detailed her novel's shift from Italian to English, while Barzini recounted her process for the book Aqua.
Jhumpa Lahiri and Chiara Barzini, who met in Rome through writer Francesca Marciano in a group focused on foreign-language writing, have begun exchanging multilingual drafts. Lahiri explained that her forthcoming novel started in Italian but evolved into a double-language manuscript, now shaped into a monolingual English version she plans to translate back into Italian. 'I had reached a point beyond the binary, beyond the boundary between either and or,' Lahiri said, rejecting the pressure to claim a single mother tongue despite Bengali being her literal one from childhood upbringing split between cultures. Barzini described a similar path for her book Aqua, commissioned in Italian but initially drafted in a mix of English and Italian, then fully translated and edited across versions. She noted editors' initial concerns over the hybrid stages, likening them to 'traduttese,' but emphasized that time allowed each version to stand strong, with adjustments for UK and US English differences. The writers advocate treating polylingual drafts as valid works in progress, drawing inspiration from figures like Amelia Rosselli, who blended Italian, English, and French, and Maryse Condé, who declared, 'I write in Maryse Condé.' They envision a 'third space' of negotiation, as conceptualized by Homi K. Bhabha, where hybridity replaces strict origins. Lahiri highlighted self-translation's rigor, as in her New Yorker story 'The Boundary,' credited as 'translated from the Italian by the author.' Publishing expectations remain a hurdle, with gatekeepers classifying books by dominant language, yet the pair see this approach as liberating, allowing ongoing revisions through translation.
