The “voices of childhood” in Clarice Lispector's literature

Abstract

Many childhood voices echo in Clarice Lispector's literature. They range from the countless child characters who star in her texts to the books dedicated to children, including the chronicles that illustrate the interaction between the writer and her children. This article focuses, firstly, on some short stories in which child characters face events and encounters that shatter their fantasies, triggering a process in which childhood begins to come to an end. Next, we will analyze chronicles in which the writer describes moments of interaction with her children. This analysis will be based on the understanding that a child's worldview produces an effect in language similar to that of poetry, serving as a powerful foundation for literary creation. Finally, it discusses how children, as well as animals, are characters with significant effect in Clarice's writing, bringing it closer to her leitmotif: the shapeless and unrepresentable.

Keywords
Clarice Lispector; Childhood; Creation; Gilles Deleuze