A SILENT WRITING

REMARKS ON WORDS AND SILENCE IN CLARICE LISPECTOR’S A BREATH OF LIFE

Abstract

This article makes remarks on the concepts of silence and words in Clarice Lispector’s A Breath of Life. It is recognized by some critics that Clarice Lispector’s writing involves a “diasporic” writing, a quality related to the author’s Jewish origins. This article determines that the Jewish tradition and its hermeneutics are reflected in A Breath of Life, in the theme of silent writing as well as in the form of a temporal suspension linked to the non-linear narration present in this posthumous book. Therefore, we note that themes are linked to the very way in which the narrative is shaped. There are also noted affinities between the theme of silent writing and the mystical nature observed in the book. Such mystical nature is connected to the anxious search of unveiling the mysteries of life, time, and death, as experienced by the protagonist Angela Pralini. Such search culminates in an ecstatic experience which leads this character to an ineffable state of mind. Despite the limitations and the precariousness of words with regards to revealing mysteries, it is words that are the primary material, that are the only available tool to address the riddle of life, time, and death which disturb Angela Pralini as well as the character named ‘Author’, which largely borrow Clarice Lispector’s own features.