Clarice and Carolina: Salvation through Writing

Abstract

Mainly motivated by the brief meeting between Clarice Lispector and Carolina Maria de Jesus, and the dialog that this encounter has provided, this article has as aim to briefly compare two narratives: A paixão segundo G.H. and Quarto de despejo. From the bias of the metalanguage in these two authors, it is possible to note how the writing serves to save these two lives (G.H.'s and even Clarice’s, as she affirms in the chronicle “Escrever” – “Writing” –, and also Carolina’s life). The narratives of these two women seem to be essential for their survivor in the middle of the experience and discovery of the unequal daily life, either for the knowledge of the other, the helpless (in G.H.), or from her own experience in the poorest classes of society (in Carolina’s diaries). Thus, starting from the acknowledgement of their differences (mainly social), what is wanted to show here is how these two works seem to have a thematic axis in common: the writing as a necessary activity to survive their experiences.