Jhumpa Lahiri: Obsession with origin is a global danger

• Pramod Thomas
• 30 May, 2024

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By: Pramod Thomas

PULITZER PRIZE-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri has said that people’s obsession with origin is a global danger, reported the Guardian.

The author frequently encounters inquiries about her true origins, with people often asking her, “Where are you really from?”

According to Lahiri, the question arises so regularly that it has become a recurring part of her interactions.

“I don’t have that specific set of coordinates that mark me as who I am. I have many pieces to myself,” Lahiri, who was born in London to Indian parents, was quoted as saying. She moved to the US at the age of three, and now resides in Rome.

While speaking at the Hay literary festival in Powys, Wales, Lahiri, who writes in both English and Italian and has translated her own work, criticised the global obsession with originality and authenticity.

She believes this ‘obsession’ is highly problematic, stressing the vast number of variables that define human existence.

Lahiri sees her role as a creative writing teacher at Barnard College in New York, and through her literary works, as encouraging people to question the concept of authenticity and why it is so highly valued.

She acknowledged the human desire for truth over falsehood but warned against equating authenticity with purity.

“I understand that we don’t want things to be false, we want things to be true, but then there’s the leap from authenticity to the idea of purity, and therefore, what is not authentic or pure is somehow corrupt, and that’s the danger zone,” she said.

She attributed this focus on origin to current global conflicts, including those in Gaza and within the US, India, and Italy, countries to which she has personal ties.

Questioning the slogan “Make America Great Again,” Lahiri challenged the notion of returning to an undefined past greatness. She linked the rise of Donald Trump, the rightwing populist party Lega in Italy, and Narendra Modi’s vision of India to a growing nationalist sentiment. This sentiment, she believes, stems from the idea of having an unassailable right to belong to a particular place, a belief she rejects.

Lahiri has never felt such a claim to any place and advocates for recognising our transient existence. While understanding the desire for a defined identity, she views this as potentially dangerous, arguing that identity is not fixed and should not be rooted in language and place.

The author contends that a strong attachment to one’s origin fosters xenophobia, encapsulated in the dichotomy of “us versus them.” She highlighted how notions of “our land” often ignore the original inhabitants.

Recalling her childhood in Rhode Island and singing “This Land Is Your Land,” Lahiri pointed out the erasure of the land’s true history.

She added, “Much of history is built on states of exile, physical movement and the creation of homelands. The emotional attachments we have placed on to this sense of place and belonging can “ervert our knowledge of what is actually the case”.