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The text Intimate Alienation: Immigrants' Fiction and Translation is written by Jhumpa Lahiri, an British born Indian American Author. In this text the writer explains how she feels alienated from her own culture and home presenting her literary anecdote.
Jhumpa Lahiri was born on July 11, 1967 in London and settled down in America. Her work 'Interpreter of Maladies (1999), a collection of her short stories won Pulitzer prize, a prestigious award given for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition founded by Hungarian American publisher Joseph Pulitzer which is yearly administered by Columbia University.
To be eligible for the Pulitzer prize, the book (work) has to deal with American life and written by American citizen. The author says that she should be grateful that her mother wasn't on the Pulitzer committee because her book Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of her short stories deal with Indian people not American in the eyes of her mother. Her mother was obsessed and wanted to see her as Indian. In fact, she was born from an Indian mother and naturalized as American citizen and her book was about people like Indians.
Lahiri's works are mostly based on Bengali culture and life style. She says that an author's freedom is limited only to the process of writing. Once the writer's work is public, he/she is branded with some categories. And so happened to her when her work was out. She has been categorized as an Indian American author, as a British born author, as an NRI (Non-resident Indian), ABCD author (American born confused desi), etc. The writer expresses her feeling of alienation, a cut off from her cultural heritages, language and birthplace when she finds her writing being criticized. The writer longs to write in Bengali though her knowledge on it is limited. Her characters in her works are considered to be less realistic and authentic by Indian reviewers. She is even blamed for misrepresenting the plumbing system of Kolkata in her work. Her work 'The Treatment of Bibi Haldar' is criticized as being stereotypical by the Indian reviewers. The reviewers of two magazines namely 'India Today' and 'Business Standard' charged the writer for choosing Kolkata as setting of her story and stereotypical representation of Mr. Kapasi, a character in Interpreter of Maladies who is a part-time tour guide working with the Indian American Mrs. Das. She presents him as intoxicated by the sight of Mrs. Das's bare legs and short skirt.
The writer feels disappointed at slowly getting alienated from her own language and culture. She says she has contributed in literature with the help of Bengali. According to her, dialogue is an important part of culture which has aural presence in mind. She used many Bengali words in her stories in the past. Her characters in many stories denies to use English and use Bengali.
Now the writer's story are set in America and deal with American characters. 'When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine' is the story set in America without using foreign words or expressions. It is the turning point of her writing from Bengali setting to American ones.
The writers asserts that all her characters are translators because they have to translate themselves in American to survive. She wraps up this essay with the remark 'I translate, therefore I am'.
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