“Every Choice We Make Is Political”: Natasha Lehrer on Translating “Consent” and “I Hate Men”
Natasha Lehrer is a prize-winning literary translator from French to English. She recently translated
Consent, Vanessa Springora’s memoir of her teenage relationship with the writer Gabriel Matzneff, which sent shock waves through France and triggered a rape investigation; and Pauline Harmange’s bestseller
I Hate Men, a book-length essay that found unexpected success after an employee of the French ministry for gender equality attempted to have it banned. In this interview, conducted via email, Lehrer discusses the influence of these books on French society, her “winding” career path, and translation as “a profound and political act of decentering the self.”
Last modified on Tue 15 Dec 2020 11.49 EST
In Caste, Wilkerson explains why racism thrives and not just thrives, but is actively institutionalised and why white privilege must be recognised ⦠reading Caste helped me see the inequities within MY own society, how many patriarchal cultures and religious blackmail are a serious detriment to the progress of African societies and how, if we do not change the system, we will continue to be disenfranchised and held back in chains forged by our own hands.
Umaymah Abdullahi, Nigeria
Shuggie Bain takes the crown for me this year. I think about Shuggie and Agnes almost daily, and the cycle of poverty, addiction and abuse. I quit drinking in April during the initial lockdown and read it in September and it really struck a chord. Itâs incredibly well written and devastating but beautiful at the same time.
Readers on their favourite books of 2020: I’ve given it to everyone I know Guardian readers
In Caste, Wilkerson explains why racism thrives and not just thrives, but is actively institutionalised and why white privilege must be recognised … reading Caste helped me see the inequities within MY own society, how many patriarchal cultures and religious blackmail are a serious detriment to the progress of African societies and how, if we do not change the system, we will continue to be disenfranchised and held back in chains forged by our own hands.
Umaymah Abdullahi, Nigeria
Shuggie Bain takes the crown for me this year. I think about Shuggie and Agnes almost daily, and the cycle of poverty, addiction and abuse. I quit drinking in April during the initial lockdown and read it in September and it really struck a chord. It’s incredibly well written and devastating but beautiful at the same time.