Hélène Cixous and the Hour of Clarice Lispector

Hélène Cixous and the Hour of Clarice Lispector Author(s): Anna Klobucka Source: SubStance, Vol. 23, No. 1, Issue 73 (1994), pp. 41-62 Published by: University of Wisconsin Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3684792 . Accessed: 04/09/2014 12:40 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . University of Wisconsin Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to SubStance. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions H6k1neCixous and theHour ofClariceLispector AnnaKlobucka nodidlogo. euficomuito eundoexisto. Eusdexisto sozinha, Quando ClariceLispector medando desordres. Ntodeixar personne ClariceLispector1 Une BelleLoveAffaire Itall beganon thetwelfth ofOctober1978,thedayH16Pne fellinlove withClarice. That day, less thana year afterClarice Lispector'suntimely death at the age of 52, Hl'ne Cixous discovered in the work of the Brazilianwritera wealthof inspirationthatbroughtherout of a creative impasse,and was tobecomea guidinglightforherown writingin yearsto come.As shewrote: A writing handsin thedarkness, whenI no longer came,withgleaming I spokeno in solitude... daredtohelpmyself, so far away pure mywriting more,I fearedmyvoice,I fearedthebirds'voices,andall ofthecallsthat and are extinlookoutside,and thereis no outsideexceptnothingness, foundmewhenI wasunfindable tomyself. (1989a,12)2 guished-awriting If themomentlove strikesis ultimately unsayable,theabundantflow of writingwhich this textualcoupde foudrehas since engenderedclearly and ungrateallows and meritsattentivescrutiny. It is,however,a difficult ful task to approach passion in a spiritof cold-heartedanalysis:a lover's discoursemust not be spoken of,"it admitsno description,only simulation."The above definitioncomes fromRoland Barthes'sown memorable simulation,which "offersthereadera discursivesite:thesite of someone the other(the loved obspeaking withinhimself,amorously, confronting who not the lover as "someonespeaking does ject), speak" (4). Portraying within himself,"Barthes'scharacterization seems perfectlydesigned to the outlined discursive highlight differently space in whichHe16neCixous Clarice Lispector. places her own reading and writingof/with/through 41 SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 42 AnnaKlobucka solitude"(1), ForiftheBarthean is oneof"extreme (male)lover'sdiscourse toitsobject of"absenceoftheother"(17),a discoursepoignantly external whichitcanat bestenveloplike"a verygentleglove"(28),Cixousin her roleofa (female)loverofLispector's textstagesa relationship callingfora quite distinctset of interpretive metaphors. Speakingof Vivrel'orange ofthisintertexenactments (1979),one oftheearliestand mostsuccessful tual liaison,JeanLarose describesits way of communicating with worksas onedependent noton a closeness Lispector's ... semblable maisAla Acelledesbandelettes unemomie, quiemaillottent manibre-musicale-dontune fenetren'est plus un miroir;avec la Ala distraite de soi,d'unedistraction de la grace,toujours simplicitM propre etinnocente de l'enfance, du paradisou de l'orange... presence gracieuse (88) Cixous's"lover'sdiscourse"is thuspresented as no longermerelyencirits desired be it (like (textual) other, cling tenderly a softglove)orwiththe morbidpossessivenessofa mummy'swrappings,nordoes itmerelyreflect infront ofa Narcissus's(orLacan's)mirror-instead itproduces uponitself a truepossibility ofcommunication window of the prelapsarian through innocence. Mostimportantly, Cixous's"lovedobject"-thetextofClariceLispector-is creditedwith the power to speak foritselfwithinthe discursive space engenderedby thelovingsubject(Cixous's metatext).For according to Cixous,successfullovingas well as readingdemandsa faithful recognitionof theOther'sautonomousmeaning.Such an approachis stressed,for instance,by the participantsin her seminarsat the Universit6de Paris and at theCollkgeInternational where de Philosophie, VIII-Vincennes texts are a constant and As one of the Lispector's prominent presence. seminarmembersremarks, thisfaithfulness totheother a veryclosereading a word ofthetext, requires Eachword,eachalinea,eachcommaassumesitsmeanbywordreading. offaithfulness andrigorwhichI findso ing.In fact,itis thiscombination valuablein theseminar--a combination whichtruly enablesa readingto 148) bringa textalive.(Sellers No longer a wrapped-up mummy,the dead textis broughtalive, made to speak itsown meaning,itsown truedesire.And so, presumably, is thedead writer,in thiscase ClariceLispector.Itshouldbe acknowledged that the Brazilian writer,few of whose works had been translatedinto Frenchand/or Englishbeforethefatefulyearof 1978,has come to achieve considerableprominenceon the Franco-American literaryand academic SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Cixous and Lispector 43 circuit Cixous's passionatelypersonalinvolvement due preciselyto H0l0ne in the propagationof Lispector'swritings.Althoughhailed by Brazilian criticsand scholarsas one of the most remarkableliteraryfiguresof this century,equalled in her statureonly by Joao GuimarAesRosa, Lispector scenewere would likelyremainmoreor less unknownon theinternational it not forher sudden stardom,triggeredby Cixous's recognitionin her work of an "outstandingillustrationof 'femininewriting"'(Sellers 6). Thus,particularlyin Americanacademia,Lispector'sgrowingprominence has become closelyassociated withthedisseminationof the theoriesand The practicesof theFrenchliteraryand criticalcurrentof&criture feminine. followingfragmentof a scholarlyarticleneatly,if somewhatdrastically, exemplifiesthissituation: Americanreadershave recentlystartedto look criticallyat what of6criture havetosayabouttheory, women'swriting, frminine proponents and women'scauses-social,politicaland economic. Cixous'stextsand arereceiving statements andgreater dissemination here.Givenher greater current enthusiasm forLispector, we shouldlookat Lispector's as texts, inordertounderstand Cixous'senthusiasm forthem; to well-first, second, seean exampleofthe6criture thatCixouscalledforinthe"Rirede ffminine la M&iuse."Wemight alsosee in Lispector's texts...an indication ofthe further ofCixous'sowntexts. (Armbruster 155) development Some othersare clearlymore equal than otherothers.The interest Lispector'sworks mighthold for feministliterarycriticsis reduced by Armbruster to theirprovidingan interesting gloss of Cixous's own ideas, and Lispectorherselfis seen as a successful(ifunconscious)apprenticeof &criture fminine: welltoa number ofCixous'sexhortations, forexample, Lispector responds forwomento write, to writeaboutwomen,to liberate theNewWoman from theOld,toinscribe thebreath ofthewholewoman, tobring womento Cixoushas thusfoundin Lispector of a soul mate. writing. something (152-3). Whetheras masterand apprenticeor as soul mates,Cixous and Lispector are clearlyseen as almostone and thesame. AnothercritictermsLispector a "Cixousian" writerand assertsthatwhile "Clarice Lispector'swriting fromCixous'. . . it is one and the same, by the comappears different of their vision" (Fisher25). Even a criticlikeSusan Suleiman,who monality is carefuland suspicious enough to inquire whethersuch "findingthe 'unhoped-forother'[is not]but a way offindingone's otherself,"ultimately declaresthetwo authorsto be SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 44 AnnaKlobucka ... notone,but... veryclose,veryclose;so closethatinrereading Clarice's inorder texts tounderstand thelastworkshewrote shedied(The before Hour H.C.isbrought ofherown. several toreread, andrewrite, oftheStar), xiii-xv) (1991, Therecan certainly be no doubtthatLispector's workhas beenenorWhatis on influential Cixous's and critical mously development. literary abouttheaboveassessments, stemsfromtheirnot-sohowever, striking in efsubtlereversalofthisintertextual Lispector becoming relationship, The fectmore"Cixousian"thanCixousherself has been "Lispectorian." is performed ease withwhichthisinterpretive turnabout unquestioning modelsofinterto a relianceon specifically feminine mightbe attributed in Luce Irigaray's forinstance, as articulated, communication, subjective This enactcelebrated textual essay"Quandnosl1vresse parlent"(1977). is basedon a amorousand discursive mentof an all-female relationship for of in is absolute which "there no premise place an economy reciprocity, of exchange, The loversare neither or ofopposition betweencontraries. twonorone,neither different northesame,butun-different (indiffirentes)" in its (Suleiman1986,13). Yet,whileCixous's"dialogue"withLispector a of to for meltdown mostintensely moments call lyrical complete appears italso declares boundaries between(foreign) bodies,languagesand texts, itselfrespectful oftheultimately ofitscounterpart: irreducible otherness dans la plus grandeproximit6" "Il fautque l'autrereste6trangissime betweenthetwotermsofthisirresis(Cixous1989a,157).Itis thetension tibleparadoxthatI wouldliketo explorehere.Ratherthanrelyon the theoriesof 6criturefiminine, I will insteadhighlightpreciselythose in hermostrecent whichCixousherself has beenemphasizing categories to"thesceneof both and critical: the belonging writings, literary categories to one of herarticles borrow an from title of the History," expression (1989b). Is Lispector's(Brazilian)foreignness respectedor assimilatedby voicetransCixousand hercommentators? Is her(Portuguese) literary maze withwhichit has been mittedor silencedby themetadiscursive surrounded? In thefollowing I willattempt thosesites toidentify section, on themapofthemeta-Lispectorian discourse where, speakgeopolitically clasheswiththe pervasive ing,thenobleprincipleof non-intervention of (non-Western invasionand domestication practiceof (post-)colonial cultural otherness. European) SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CixousandLispector 45 A Geopoeticsof(Mis)Translation AnAlgerian whoseSephardic anda father Jewwitha Germanmother and familyused to speakSpanishat home;a womanlivingin a country in a her of that had to instead own; become, writing language simplybeing, a survivor whohad thegreatlucktobe bornin 1937notin Germany, but in Oran,Algeria(Suleiman1991,xviii-xix): multicultural virtue of her by and a lifestorypowerfully moldedby historical circumstance, identity Cixous never has been of and unaware the Helene linguistic geopolitical ofone'ssubjectposition. Itis nowonder, too,thatsheshould contingencies be drivenbya passionfor"breaking downthewall"(ibid,ix),notonlythe onebetweenherself andwriting, between"man"and "woman,""self"and "other,"but also thosemultipleBerlinwalls thatare constantly being erectedand brought downthrough oftranscultural successesand failures (mis)translations. One ofCixous'sfavorite mottosis Kafka'sseductively senenigmatic translawhichinherFrench tence,"Limonadees warallesso grenzenlos," tion becomes "Limonade tout etait si infini."In Susan Suleiman's introduction toan Englishtranslation ofCixous'sessays,theGermanword is rendered as both"infinite" at thesame and "boundless," "grenzenlos" timefollowingthe Frenchversionand departing fromit to producea translation I choosetosee thetwist moreaccurately theoriginal. mirroring of meaningbetween,on theone hand,grenzenlos/boundless and, on the as symptomatic ofapofCixous'scontradictory shifts other,infinilinfinite, in to cultural which her oftenoccur otherness, proach poeticvoyages acrossforeignlands,bodiesand texts.As Suleimanemphasizesin her forCixous,"breaking downwallsdoesnotnecessarily-not introduction, to ofcomposite desirably-lead oneness,"butinstead"totherecognition ofa selves,composite tongues"(xii).Thisis,in a word,the"geopoetics" mosaicratherthanof a meltingpot.Whilewalls disappear,theirtraces mustremain,as in a mosaicwherethenonexistent linemarksthedifferencebetweengreenand blue,betweenred and yellow.And yet,in boundaries("die Grenze")areerasedwithout a traceevenas the "infini," in inscribed the "bound-less") plurality composite wor(l)d("grenzen-los," is preserved in theapparentonenessoftheequallycomposite "in-finity." Thus "grenzenlos" and "infini"sharewithothercomplexsignsof our times-such as "postmodern," "decentered"or "indeterminacy"-the characteristic of paradoxically whattheyaim to contest incorporating ofwallsbeingbrought theirmemory (Hutcheon 3),displaying down,or,as somewouldargue,theirstigmaofcomplicity. Buttheboundaries being SubStance 1994 #73, This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions AnnaKlobucka 46 in "infinity" areno longerthesameonesas thoseof preserved/contested a poeticfantasy from"borders": aredifferent "grenzenlos," justas "limits" concreteness the ofbound-less, limit-less supplants geopolitical expansion ofcreation issueinKafka'sEurope,bythe anderasureofborders(a timely tendtobe,almostby while"borders" way-and inCixous's).In addition, there undifferentiated evokes an definition, oneness--can plural,"infinity" be several infinities? In Cixous'sreadingand writing and thedelights ofClariceLispector, a of translation constitute self-consciously prominent, perils inevitably towardtheOther(text) theme.Theimperative offaithfulness highlighted of becominga is frequently and so is theriskof betrayal, mentioned, translator-traitor Andyet,forall theirself-aware("traduttore tradittore"). oftendisplaya sortofslipsimilarto ness,Cixous'sLispectorian writings and "infini": thatwhich,as I haveargued,occursbetween"grenzenlos" a text'sculturaland individualOtherness Lispector's disappearswithout in be as of itself behind such a reflection can, effect, trace, leaving only pale forthis labeled"Cixousian."In orderto venturea possibleexplanation an we look of on at Cixous's first writing Lispector, tendency, might piece as TorilMoi articlepublishedin theFrenchjournalPoctique (1979):there, toendowwords CixousstressestheBrazilianwriter's observes, "capacity withtheiressential meaning"(115): o1tnousnevivons Encestemps etparesseux, violents pasce quenous vivons... nousn'entendons plus ce que les chosesveulentnousdire etreduction, noustraduisons, noustraduisons, toutesttraduction il encore, nereste presque plusriendela merqu'unmotsanseaux:carnousavons aussitraduit lesmots, nouslesavonsvidesde leursparoles, seches, r~duits, ilssurgissaient etils ne peuvent comment embaumbs, plusnousrappeler comme deschosesautrefois quand,dejoie,elles l'4clatdeleurrireessentiel, alet"mer","mer"sentait ellesexultaient leurnom-parfum; s'appelaient, gues, bruissaitsel, et nous gocitionsl'aimbeinfinie,nous l4chions le selde sa parolesurnoslMvres. l'Ftrangbre, Maisil suffit qu'unevoixclaricedise:la mer,la mer,pourque macoquille eaux!merappelle, etj'yvais,vague, la mers'appelle, mer!m'appelle, &clate, Aelle.(412-13) je merappelle with Itis impossible vibrate tooverlookthefactthatthelastsentences theonewordwhichneverappears inthequotedpassage,evenas itisspoken fromla mer, indistinguishable byit,againand again:la mte.3Phonetically it is theFrenchmother thatthe"voiceclarice"has thepowertobringinto existence.And thenthewalls go down,"[la] coquille&clate,"and the nous of thetimewhen"nousgofitions l'aim"einfinie, memoryreturns Butthetasteis salty le selde sa parolesurnoslxvres." l1chions l'0trangIre, SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CixousandLispector 47 liketears,notsweetlikemother's is an "etrangere," milk;thesea/mother she in can be mother Am I French. far-fetched yet only beingoutrageously in suggesting thatLispector as well,whileremaining mustbe "foreign," inordertotruly reinvented as French becomemother forCixous?Andthat theviolentdistastefortheconstant needto "translate and reduce"might a and as wellas frustration, Jewoman's perhapsbetray wandering fatigue a nostalgic desirefora mother/land ofherown? Thereis, however, one morereasonwhyI havechosento quotethe abovepassage.If,in Cixous'sinterpretation, the"voixclarice"bringsout the trueessenceof things,if it singsout thesea, and thesea becomes and mother toHdlene(la coquille mother, entire, &clate)-this givesrebirth web would fall were we to attention woven, beautifully poetic apart, pay towhatthevoiceofClariceLispector actually sayswhenitspeaksthesea. thesea is no longermother; it is, in fact,"o mar,"a For,in Portuguese, masculine noun.Bringing ina markofan otherness carried foreign, by truly a doublyalien-Portuguese and masculine--intruder, wouldsurelyshattertheblissfulbalancein whichla merand la m&eco-exist in theFrench herself Whichis probably Cixous sign,allowingH6lknetobe reborn. why doesn'tmention thePortuguese habit noun,eventhoughitis herfrequent to comment on thegrammatical of in gender keywords,both herown worksand inLispector's. The moststriking exercisein multilingual whichLispector's ecriture, interwoven withherown,prompted Cixoustoproduce, is the foreignness, LivetheOrange, firstpublishedby desfemmesin essay Vivrel'orange/To in thevolumeL'HeuredeClarice The 1977,and reprinted Lispector (8-113).4 backbone of the is a translalinguistic essay side-by-side English-French wordsfroma numberof otherlantion;however,it also incorporates thetwo Italian,Spanish,Latin,German. Furthermore, guages:Portuguese, sidesoftheessaydo notmirror eachotherwiththeconventional accuracy ofa translation. Whileitis truethateverytranslation has no choicebutto thisoneself-consciously anddefiantbe,tosomedegree,a mis-translation, exhibits its faultiness. To let me a illustrate, ly quote particularly dazzling passage: femme? Juis-je juiveou fuis-je Jouis-je judiaou suis-jemulher? JoyI donna? ou fruoenfilha? femme ou est-cequeje mer4-juive? (35). Fuis-je AmI enjewing WinI woman, OrwoeI woman? orwontI jew-ich? myself? Fruo.(34) JoyI donna?Gioiajew?Orgioiamfemme? A very"Cixousian" text,Vivrel'orange/To LivetheOrangeis nevertheless also botha paean to ClariceLispector'scomingintoCixous's life,and, SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions AnnaKlobucka 48 novelA paixiosegundo a readingoftheBrazilianwriter's G.H., ostensibly, La in before des French translation Passion (as publishedshortly by femmes selonG.H.).Andhere'swherethetrouble Inordertoarticulate starts. what it is thatI findso troublesome aboutVivrel'orange, let me firstquote another Willis: reader of Cixous's Sharon inquisitive essay, HowcanI readthistext? accessible Is it,initsoriginary only bilingualness, tothebilingual between sinceoneis constantly thetwo reader, suspended or HowcanI readit?Wheredoesitaddressme,inmyEnglish languages? inmyFrench? theonewhoinhabits andis .... Whois itsreader? Possibly inhabited attheborder them.(77) between bybothlanguages, The networkof communicationgeneratedby Vivrel'orange(communicationbetweenthetextand itsreader,as well as betweenthetwosides ofthe text)is here subordinatedto the originarypremiseof its French-English bilingualness,both the speakingsubject(s)and the implied readerbeing "inhabitedby both languages," and balancingtheirwriting/reading "at the borderbetween them."While gainingaccess to the textrequiresthe sophisticationof a bilingual competence,Vivrel'orangestops short of movingbeyond itsself-contained di-versityand of fulfillFrench/English its ing Utopian potentialof becominga "nonsiteinhabitedby so many languages thatit is anchoredin none" (Willis81). Such a textualmosaic, were itpossibleto compose,would echo Cixous's recollectionofhergrowing up in themidstof a linguisticmdlange: Andthetonguethatwas singing in myears?It was languages: Spanish, faroff, French. on thisearthcomesfrom even Arabic, German, Everything I sanginGerman. I also whatis verynear.I listened toall thelanguages. cackledwiththehens.(1989b, 2) A memoryof such vertiginousmulti-versity is indeed reflectedin Vivre its use of l'orange,through copious "foreign"(that is, foreignto both Englishand French)linguisticelements.Given thispolyglotqualityof the text,what am I still complainingabout? A closer look at the treatment accordedto one such intrusionmighthelp explainmy continuingdissatisfactionwith thestatusof thosenot-fully-resident aliens in theapparently of Vivre egalitariangeopoeticfantasy l'orange. There can be no doubt that thekey word in the essay is the one incorporatedin its titleand displaced throughoutits texture,a translaforits everysign and theme,be it women,Jews,writing,or tion/stand-in the body: theorange,l'orange,laranja(Willis 77). The orange is also the between Lispectorand Cixous, symbolicpoint of (mis-)communication as it does, Lispector's"apple" (fromhernovel TheApplein the translating, SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Cixous and Lispector 49 Dark)intothefruitwhose name carries,forCixous,an infinite potentialfor an adwith transformations, "Oran-je," poetic and interpretive beginning ditionof Cixous's (French)"I" to the name of her native (Algerian)city, Oran (1989b,2). In Vivrel'orange,however,the orange is, above all, the Giftwhich of blissfulrediscoveryof Hel"ne receivesfromClarice,thegiftof rebirth, thelostwor(1)ds: Itwasa merenothing,-that TheGift. Atoncetaken. seizedmeabsolutely. Sheshowedmea faceand I saw it,I had thesightofthisface.Thenshe showedmea fruit, tome,andshegavemeback whichhadbecomeforeign thesightofthisfruit. Shereadittome,withherhumidandtender voice, andI rediscovered shecalledit naranja, shetranslated it,intomytongue, I re-knew thetasteofthelostorange, theorange.(52) Le Don.Aussitot m'asaisieabsolument. C'etaitunrien,--qui prise.Ellem'a un visageetje l'ai vu,j'ai eu la vuede ce visage.Ensuiteellem'a montre unfruit, etellem'arendula vuede ce montre devenuetranger, quim'etait fruit. Ellemel'a lu,avecsa voixhumide elle ettendre, ellel'a appel6:laranja, le gofit de l'orange l'a traduit, perdue, j'ai jusqu'Amalangue,etj'airetrouve (53) recompris l'orange. In the above passage, there is only one instance of deliberate mistranslation: the Portugueselaranjais, as SharonWillis puts it,further in Spanish naranja.Therewould be nothingremark"differed/deferred" able about it,exceptforthe factthat,althoughsimilarlyspelled, the two words differphoneticallyto a quite significantdegree as, respectively, [lar~3a] and [naranxa].This is hardlya shocker,a disappointedreader mightjustifiablysay, but in a textwhere "the significanceof the voice cannot be overemphasized,"a textwhich "abounds in referencesto the tongue,the voice, ears, and hearing,"whose "organs of speech and of listeningare turnedinwardsand outwards,while the voice of the musemotherClarice becomes the milk-inkof the daughter'swriting"(Aneja 199), is it not, in such a text,a rathertellingfactthatthe Spanish/Porof dead (written)signs, tuguese interplayis made to relyon a mirroring which no longer communicateso closely when theyare spoken? Once again, Portuguese,thelanguage of Lispector'swritings,comes to lifeonly or when it is juxtaposed with French (as in laranjafl'orange, [lard3a]/[lord3e]),but does not receivea fullyautonomousstanding:its dialogue with Spanish is (froma Cixousian standpoint,whichprivileges orality)an exchangebetweencorpses.5 Why should it matterthatthe Cixous-LispectorFrench/Portuguese LivetheOrange, textualcommunicationis assimilated,in Vivrel'orangelTo SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 50 AnnaKlobucka into a French/English onlya dialogue,Lispector'slanguageretaining tokenpresencein whatpurports ofher to be a praiseand interpretation works?Whatrulesoffairness oraccuracy canbe evokedinaddressing this Whataboutpoetic un-Law-ful? text,so happilyinsolent,so defiantly offbythepoeticword"(Conley152)?To these license,aboutbeing"carried doubtsI can onlyrespondbyevokinganothertextwhich,likea faithful followsthe interlinguistic apprentice, patternestablishedby Cixous's to voice:a voicebelonging essay,eventhoughitspeaksina verydifferent to noacademicdiscourse, on a that close attention relying system pays tionsofproperty manualsof and propriety, as exemplified bycopyright, toaccurately creditone'ssources. style,ortheobligation CarolArmbruster's article"HMlne-Clarice: nouvellevoix"intwoimcan be to LivetheOrange. said resemble Vivre portant respects l'orange/To A paixaosegundo G.H.and First,itis a readingoftwonovelsbyLispector, the of ideas about viva, &criture Agua espousedby through prism fiminine a bilinitretainsthroughout Cixous.Second,as itstitlealreadyindicates, inwhichLispector's worksarequotedfrom gual,French-English identity, in French whilethe (with translations), exclusively accompanying English critic'sown discourseis carriedout in English.6 Armbruster nevercommentson herprivileging overeitherthe of Frenchin thosequotations, of Lispector(whose Portugueseoriginalor the Englishtranslations in she mentions a In shedoes,howanother footnote footnote). availability oftheaccuracyof ever,emphasizethat"therehas beensomequestioning theFrenchtranslations In Cixous'sseminars, disfromthePortuguese. in of the are corrected." as some also adds a (She that, crepancies guest shehasbenefitted from thosecorrections, andhasreliedonthem seminars, in her article[148n7]).We are thusgivento understand thatCixous's Frenchtranslations and interpretations of Lispectorare perhapseven closertothe"original" thantheoriginalis toitself(similarly, as Lispector a writercomesthrough as more"Cixousian"than"Lispectorian"). This is reinforced the close attention Armbruster to perception by pays the nuancesofmeaning thattheFrench even versions never bothering display, to referto thePortuguese: "She[thenarrator ofAguaviva]claimsonlyto 'parlerde la forcedu corpsdansles eaux du monde',and she asksus to 'capte[r]cetteautrechosedonten v6rit6 je parle,carmoi-meme je ne le in Armbruster footnote, peux"';in theaccompanying explainsthat"capter Frenchimpliesobtaining In referunderhanded methods. thingsthrough encetowateritimpliescollecting waterat thesource,at thehead-springs" (150). SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CixousandLispector 51 In thecontext ofsuchdisregard forLispector's non-Cixousian linguisticand substantive it is highlyironicthatArmbruster should autonomy, in the Brazilian a writer's to Otherness praise spiritof ability approach in cautiousandrespectful "Her receives the other its inquiry: writing living and attempts a languagethat torelateitslifeand fullness totality through callsandnamesitwithout ordominating transformit,without possessing itsdifference" (151;myemphasis).By ing itin any way,and without denying itselfimplicitly on Ambruster's contrast, readingofLispector, modelling the French-English Live theOrange,ends up dualityof Vivrel'orange/To whatNancyK. Millerhas termed"theold Franco-American perpetuating work outto Lispector's (18).Whilereaching gameofbinaryoppositions" seemsto respondto Miller'sexhortation "tolookelsewhere, beyondthe inevitablemetropolitan for different location and references, material, ofanother, feminist beyondtheexclusions 'alreadyread"'(21),thetreatmentaccordedto her writingmakesthatinclusioncontingent on the Brazilianwriter's assimilated to the created the models becoming by very voicewhichfindsinhera sourceofitsownrenewal. "metropolitan" How toWritetheOther:Lispector's TheHouroftheStar As I havealreadyimplied, themainpointofthematic correspondence betweenLispector andCixousis thealmostobsessively exploreddilemma of approaching, most theOther.Lispector's to,and interpreting relating in achievement this is her novel the (and extraordinary respect penultimate last one publishedbeforeherdeath),A horada estrela(TheHouroftheStar). In thismetafictional namedRodrigoS.M. work,a malewriter/narrator discusseshiscreation ofa femaleprotagonist, Clarice Macabea.7Thewriter in also includes novel: "The the discourse of the "herself" Lispector Author'sDedication"carriesa parenthetical subtitle"(in truthClarice Thisis a very"Lispectorian" touch;as MartaPeixotonotes, Lispector)." "fromthemidsixties in references intrude on,autobiographical frequently fictional the fictional narratives, Lispector's disrupting systematically withwhatwe mightcallautobiographical Peixotothen pretense pretense." on to comment on "the between connection goes equivocalcross-gender and her male narrator": Lispector Shegiveshima masculine hegiveshermaleblood:'mybloodofa identity; maninhisprime'.Theauthoris a womanwhoassumesa malemaskand thenarrator themaskofa female author. (193) SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 52 Anna Klobucka We mightadd thatthemale narratorappears to remainunawareofbeing written(by a woman, no less), and is oftenmade the object of ironic manipulation by the implied author. However, this is no conclusive evidence as to who, in theend, gets to be on top: thenarrator,in his turn, ridiculeswomen writers,sayingthatMacabea's storyhas to be writtenby a man, since "a woman would just meltintotears"(14). As Peixotocomments,"with irony,Lispectorat once curiouslyrejectsand endorses the culturalmythof thesentimental womanwriter"(194). In addition,Rodrigo S.M.'s self-consciousasides oftenseem to allude to a cliche view of "feminineliterature,"as when this sophisticatedwritercondescends to to mynormalmethod,to writea storywitha beginning, "attempt,contrary a middle,and a 'grandfinale'followedby silenceand fallingrain" (13); or when he announcesthatthestorywill be "accompaniedthroughout by the most plangenttonesof a violin" (23). To complicatematterseven further, of those asides are pronouncedby Rodrigo S.M. withouta clear ironic intent,but ratheras an indicationof his earnestendeavor to succeed in compassionately telling the story of an utterly victimized female protagonist:"In writingthisstory,I shallbecomemoresensitive... I'm not an intellectual,I writewith my body. And what I writeis like a humid mist" (16). The ironicwink arriveshere fromthe point of view of the implied author ("in truth,Clarice Lispector"),as it does again when the narratordeclaresthatin orderto become fullyabsorbedin thecreationof his protagonist,he "had to give up sex and soccer" (22). Further, some of the narrator'scommentsare clear parodic referencesto earliernovels by Lispectorand to theirfemalenarrators.WorkslikeAgua vivaand A paixfo segundoG.H. appear, forexample,to be the objectof the followingselfparody: A acqiodestahist6ria emoutrem minhatransfigura?Ao tericomoresultado e minhamaterializagqo enfim emobjeto. Sim,e talvezalcancea flautadoce emque eu meenovelarei emmaciocip6(26). Theactionofthisstory inmytransfiguration andin willresult intoanother intoan object.Yes, and perhapsI'll even myultimatematerialization achievethesweetflutemusicandbecomeentwined in a softcreeper vine (20). RodrigoS.M.'s expectationsseem tomodelthemselveshereon themystical quests undertakenby the narratorsof Lispector'snovels: G.H.'s booklengthclose encounterwithotherness,as represented by a dead cockroach, or the intenselylyricalmeditationof the nameless voice narratingAgua viva. The epiphanies of self-fulfilment, in which both novels climax,be- SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Cixous and Lispector 53 come ironically(and tragically)mirroredin the conclusionof TheHourof theStar,where such self-fulfilment (or a self-consciousrealizationof its is achieved impossibility) through the protagonist's death-and the narrator'sremainingalive: Deathis an encounter withself.Laid outand dead,Macab6alookedas as a deadhorse.Thebestthing is stillthefollowing: nottodie,for imposing todieis notenough.Itfailstoachievemygreatest need:self-fulfilment... (85)8 In short,Lispectorappears to ask her readers (as well as herself)the followingquestion:What happens when a lyricallyself-centered explorationof "Otherness"no longerrefersitselfto a disembodied "you" (as in Agua viva),or to the objectifiedrealityof a squashed bug's remains,but ratheris made to depend on its complicitousinvolvementin thenarrative victimization of a fullydeveloped humanprotagonist? It is easy fora readerto become so engrossedin the mappingof the metafictional patternsat workin TheHouroftheStar,as to denyattention to the truestarof thisslim,ninety-pagenovella.And thatis why Rodrigo S.M. reminds us that,while he, as Macabea's author,has the rightto remain"devastatingly cold" (13),thereaderis denied thisprivilege,and is made to become personally-and painfully-involved in the story of Macabea's lifeand death: "Let myreaderstakea punchin thestomachto see how theyenjoyit.Lifeis a punchin thestomach"(82-3).The readeris forcedto assume complicitywiththenarrator'sclass-determined pointof view ("I am a man who has moremoneythanthosewho go hungry,which in a certainway makes me dishonest"[181),and to share in the guilty consciencewithwhichhe confronts Macab6a and otherhave-nots: Se o leitorpossuialgumariquezae vidabemacomodada, de si para sairai vercomo6 Asvezeso outro.Se 6pobre,naoestaramelendoporqueler-me 6 superfluo paraquemtemumalevefomepermanente. Faqoaquio papel de vossavalvulade escapee da vidamassacrante Bem da mediaburguesia. sei que e assustador sairde si mesmo,mas tudoo que 6 novoassusta. Emboraa moqaan6nimada hist6ria seja tao antigaque podiaseruma biblica.(38) figura Ifthereaderis financially oflife,he canbe secureandenjoysthecomforts tostepoutofhimself arelike. andseewhattheothers sometimes, expected Ifheis poor,hewillnotbereading meissuperfluous this,becausereading I foranyonewhois permanently ofhunger. possessedbya mildsensation am actinghereas an escapevalveforyourstupefying middleclassexistence.Ofcourseitis scarytostepoutofoneself, butthen, all thatis newcan bescary.Although, infact, isso ancient she theanonymous girlofthisstory couldevenbe a biblical figure (30).9 SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions AnnaKlobucka 54 is thusachievedboththroughthenarrator's The reader'sinvolvement as well device"forexcluding a powerful directappealand through irony, as forincluding," as WayneBoothputsit: a hecreates Whenever an author tohisreaderan unspoken point, conveys oroutofit,whodo inthestory allthose, whether senseofcollusion against in collusion, notgetthatpoint.(...) Theauthorand readeraresecretly heisfound which the standard behindthespeaker's back,agreeing by upon (304) wanting. the While,inTheHouroftheStar,theonethusexcludedgetstobe,byturns, empiricalwoman writerand the male narrator,the reader is alwaysinin volved,sincetheironicalshotsfrombothsides demandherinvolvement orderto be properlyappreciated.And,should thepointbe missedand the ironyfailto elicitresponse,directpromptingfromRodrigoS.M. does not allow the reader to bypass "providingmaturemoraljudgement"which, again accordingto Booth,can be "one ofthemostrewardingofall reading experiences"(307).1o So who is Macabea, and how is her storyto be judged? While the second question may well be ultimatelyimpossibleto answer in an unequivocal manner,the firstone seems almosttoo easy. Macabea, to quote her one and onlyself-definition, is "a typistand a virgin"who likes coca"a or interior, cola (35). She is a nativeof theBrazilianNortheastern sertifo, and of in and harsh reality droughts region that its torturedlandscape severe economic ills, has attractedthe imaginationof many Brazilian writers"(Peixoto 191). Her arrivalin Rio de Janeirois an epitomeof the human currents: convergenceof two distinctsocial realities,two different raceof and stubborn the"privileged Southerners" (59) and the"resistant dwarfswho would one day vindicatetherightto cryout in protest"(79). This is how RodrigoS.M. definesMacabea's stock,even as theprotagonist herselfis, by his own narrativedesign,beingknockeddown and killedby a luxuriousyellow Mercedes.Clearly,TheHour oftheStaris no place for facilesocialistrealism,as proven,at anotherpoint,by Macabea's reaction to thetitleofDostoevski'sTheInsultedand theInjured: numaclasse vezse definido Ficoupensativa. Talveztivessepelaprimeira social.Pensou,pensoue pensou!ChegouA conclusdoque na verdade eraporqueas coisassao tudoque acontecia ninguem jamaisa ofendera, assimmesmoe nAohavialutapossivel, paraquelutar?(50). timeshehadestablished Sheremained pensive.Perhapsfortheveryfirst Shedecidedthatno andthought, andthought! hersocialclass.Shethought, werethewaytheywere,andthere onehadeverreallyinsulted her,things wasnopointinstruggling, (40). whyshouldshestruggle? SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Cixous and Lispector 55 Macabea is treatedwith unremitting crueltyby almosteverybodyin the book (even thosewho also pityher),includingherboyfriend Olimpicoand the narrator.Olimpico's distasteforMacabea (at one pointhe says she is "likea hairin one's soup" [60]) can at leastbe moreor less easilymotivated and accounted for (afterall he is only a character);the narrator'sown to handle,provokingmuchanxioussoul-searching disgustis moredifficult and numeroustroubledcomments: Haos quetem.E haos quenio tem.E muitosimples: a moqaniotinha. Nao V apenasissomesmo:niotinha.Se derparameentenderem, tinhao qua? bem.Se nio,tambem estAi dessamoqaquandoo estibem.Masporquetrato ouro no estio? mais e maduro e (32). que desejo trigopuramente Thereare thosewhohave.Andthereare thosewhohavenot.It'svery this:shehadnot.Ifyougetmy simple:thegirlhadnot.Hadn'twhat?Just withthisgirl fine.Ifnot,fineas well.Butwhyam I bothering meaning, whenwhatI reallyyearnforis thewheatturning pure,ripeandgoldenin summer? (25) The above confessionofRodrigoS.M.'s truedesireallows me to finally Cixous. For the ripe,golden bringin again the by-nowalmostforgotten wheatthatMacabea's creatorwould ratherdreamand writeabout,instead ofbeingstuckwithhis unwholesomeprotagonist, also plays theroleofyet anotherof those threadsof semanticand symbolicmeaningwhich guide and supportCixous's approach to Lispector.Its origincan be tracedto a passage in a shortstory"Tantamansiddo"("Such gentleness")morethan once quoted by Cixous in her writings.It also appears in the essay "L'Auteuren verit6,"a commentary and distressat once brilliantly insightful inglyfallaciouson TheHouroftheStar(includedin thevolume L'Heurede Clarice Lispector): Nuncapensei Apenasisto:chovee estouvendoa chuva.Que simplicidade. a esse pontode trigo.A chuvacai nio que o mundoe eu chegissemos de mim,e eu olhoa chuvanaoporquepreciso dela. porqueestiprecisando Masn6sestamostiojuntascomoaguada chuvaestiligadaAchuva.(154) I neverthought Onlythis:itrains,and I watchtherain.Whatsimplicity. thattheworldand I wouldreachthispointofwheat.Therainfalls,not becauseitneedsme,andI lookattherainnotbecauseI needit.Butweare as unitedas thewateroftherainis totherain.(161)11 The "pointof wheat" (in Cixous's French,"ce pointde bl") is thesite of joyous union between the femalespeaker of Lispector'stextand the equally femalerain (a chuva/la pluie),thesite wherea dialogue is indistinfrom a and where,in fact,theveryneed forsuch a guishable monologue, distinctionis denied: it is where "our lips speak together"(Irigaray). SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 56 Anna Klobucka Lispector'scapacityforcreatingsuch discoursein turnbecomesthe"point of wheat" between her work and Cixous's own, and is the thememost oftendealt with and emphasized in the Frenchwriter'scommentariesof Lispector.Yet, in The Hour oftheStar,thereis no place forthe unquestioned,purebliss ofsuch communion,a factwhichCixous dulynotesand, in doing so, comes to an interesting conclusion: Commeil doitetrepoignant le ravede l'auteur qui veutaimerunefemme d'extremement jouirenellede sa f~minit6, pros,aimerenellesonessence, qui veutlirele livrede la chairqui ne mentpas,ne se gardepas,n'a pas raconter unehistoire. Ce qu'unauteurfemme peutfaireplus commence~ facilement qu'unauteurhomme. unefemme, soittropproched'une Oui,maisil peutarriver qu'unauteur, femme c'est-A-dire inconpouren fairela connaissance, pourla decouvrir ellela manque.Que faire?Le tourde monde nue.Etque,parfamiliarit6, uneentree entantqu'etranger. de l'autrec6tW pourrefaire RentreRodrigoS.M. pour mieuxne pas connaltre et puis connaitre Macabia.(162) Accordingto Cixous, RodrigoS.M. is thus broughtin as somethingof a to prop,meantto enliventhesomewhatstaleatmosphereofthegynaeceum, make once again excitinglyunfamiliarand provocativethat which has become all too familiarand hence,paradoxically,unknowable.This appears to be a rathershockingmisreadingof thenarrativedynamicat work in The Hour of the Star. Whatever psychological reasons could have promptedLispector'sinventionof RodrigoS.M., itis clearthattherolehis characterplays in the novel greatlysurpasses the accessoryfunctionaccorded to him in Cixous's reading.Rodrigoneverrelinquishesnarrative control;it is his voice thatspeaks in theautobiographicalpreface(Peixoto 193); and he also declareshimselfto be the authorof the novel's thirteen alternativetitles("I blame myself,as I explainedin one ofmy titlesforthis book" [38]). "Clarice Lispector,"on theotherhand, on just two occasions discreetlyintervenesin TheHouroftheStar:once, when her handwritten signatureappears among the said titles,and again, in the parenthetical subtitleto the "Author'sDedication"-"in truthClarice Lispector."While this double gesture,as powerfulas it is discreet,sufficesto undermine thusproviding RodrigoS.M.'s exclusiveclaimto theauthorialsovereignty, an explicitbasis fortheimpliedauthor'sfrequentironicalinterventions, it does nothingto changethenarrator's(and hence also Clarice Lispector's) relationshipto Macabea. The storyof the hapless protagonist'slife and death is Rodrigo's uncontestedmonopoly,neverimpingedupon by any othernarrativeagent,and it is difficult to acceptthattheircat-and-mouse SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CixousandLispector 57 textualgamemightbe interpreted (theway it is by H6l1neCixous)as a mereself-distancing ploy on Lispector'spart,a device safeguarding "feminine" excesses of inherently compassionand emagainstpotential pathy. ofherperCixous'sreadingcould,however, suggestan interpretation ofherintertextual sonalviewofTheHouroftheStarin thelargercontext ofthis If,as Suleimantellsus,Cixous'sdiscovery dialoguewithLispector. but novelmadehernotonlyrereadonceagainLispector's previousworks, also reread,andrewrite, severalofherown(xv),itbecomespossibletosee devicethat in TheHouroftheStarpreciselythekindof defamiliarizing excessivecloseCixousfindsinRodrigoS.M.'sdisrupting ofthepotentially Macabba.Andso thewindow nessbetweenLispector andherprotagonist narrative theradicalotherness ofLispector's onceagainturnsintoa mirror, intothemosaic(or inTheHouroftheStarbecoming assimilated experiment The one who is is it a meltingpot?) of Cixousianpoeticimagination. the Macabea from the novel is excluded such a of herself, virtually reading inassimilable other,and,inCixous'sessay,theobjectofperhapsthemost ofall: troubling misreading un desirou un appetit, ou quandellego,te,pourla Quandelledecouvre le moins foisde sa vie,unaliment premiere quipournousestdevenu merveille elle d6couverte et le ordinaire des c'est mets, pour all4chant,plus Etson6merveillement nousrendlesdelicatesses extraordinaires. perdues. Etnepas jeterla bouteille de plastique, c'estpr&cieux (130). as havingno WhatCixousfailstonoticehereis thatMacabeais presented tellsus, she "losther accessat all to gustatory pleasures;as thenarrator appetite,she only felta greathunger"(39). Her daily fareconsistsof hot dogs and coca-cola; her one luxuryare a few sips of cold coffeebefore Shealsobecomesill inthemorning. goingtobedwhichgiveherheartburn whenevershe decides to treatherselfto a hard-boiledegg in a snackbar: that happens because she is then remindedof her late aunt who "had always insistedthateggs were bad forthe liver" (33). In short,Macabea "suffersfrompermanenthungerand equallypermanentnausea,indexesof herpositionin a worldshe cannotincorporateand whichrefusesto accept her" (Peixoto196). andchilled fruit himself withfresh Bycontrast, RodrigoS.M.aliments mowhitewine,pointing out (in one ofhis particularly unselfconscious in be able to order to that he has to such ments) adopt frugal eatinghabits the chillingpromisecon"capture[MacabEa's] soul" (22). As if fulfilling tainedin his initials,heis theone who appears toregaina new appreciation of life's"simplepleasures" throughhis sadisticdenial of themto his creaSubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 58 Anna Klobucka tureMacabba. Given thisdisparity-fruitand whitewine on theone hand, hot dogs and coke on theother-how are we supposed to read thenovel's finalsentences,when RodrigoS.M., havingkilledoffhis protagonistand tellshimself at thethoughtof his own mortality, experiencingdiscomfort in themeantime,that (and, presumably,thereaderas well): "Don't forget, final this is the season forstrawberries. Yes" (86). This cruellyforgetful, a which the with erases of and it Macabea crav"yes," memory supplants ing for strawberries,seems disturbinglyreminiscentof Molly Bloom's "Yes" in Joyce'sUlysses,theveryword which,accordingto Cixous, is "in thebeginningof thewomen's bible" (by theway, TheHouroftheStaralso startswith a "yes" [1987,4]). Cixous's "yes" is similarlyspoken to/bya fruit:as Anu Aneja puts it, "Substituting the femalevoice forthe male's, thenarratorsof Cixous's textswatchedthe nom/non of themale transform itselfinto the luscious oui of the orange" (190). In such perversefashion Cixous ends up paradoxically,or perhaps appropriately,siding with RodrigoS.M. against the irredeemableloser Macabea, her idealizationof the protagonist's"originalinnocence"(she even collectsplastic bottles!) representing yetanothermisreadingofLispector'scomplexity. This readingappears to contradictqualitiesmostpraisedby Cixous's admirers-her theoreticalacutenessin dealingwiththequestionofOtherness, and a respectfulopennessin approachingforeigntextsand realities. As V.A. Conleywrites, Withoriental affinities withLispecechoes,shetries--especially through tor-toactlesson a milieuoran object, a particularly Western obsession, buttobe inharmony-or ina moment a personor ofgrace, perhaps-with a milieu.Thisimpliesa necessary in activity, that,a something passivity in contrast decade ago, mighthave been calledfemininity to a more action. thatproposeschangethrough violent Western, phallicmasculinity (13) Let me expressmy dissentby quotingone last fragment froma Cixousian an "passive" reading of a novel by Lispector,a fragmentexemplifying I to as textual that would not hesitate describe interpretivestrategy violence-however we mightdecide to genderit: Thisis thepathI takeinmyreading ofAguaviva.I couldhavetakenitin other text The She Clarice any by Lispector. saysthesamething everywhere. ofthelawcomesup everywhere. (1990,12; question myemphasis) Failing to open her readingsto Lispector'sliterarydiversity,Cixous, whose poetic/criticalvoice, forall its self-proclaimed does, marginality, afterall, enjoya privilegedposition(throughitseasilytranslatableFrench- SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 59 Cixous and Lispector ness, its Parisian centrality,throughthe appeal it holds for American in effectexercisesmasteryover Lispector'stextand academic feminists), oftheir name and, insteadoflookingout to herthroughtheecriture-fenetre writings,more oftenthannot turnsthewindow into a mirrorfilledwith theFrenchwriter'sown reflection. This is, ofcourse,a patternunderlying different situations of many masteryand assimilation,be it the sexual of reflectedin the pseudo-difpolitics phallic sameness, symmetrically ferenceof its feminineother,or the(post-)colonialexerciseof culturaland political dominance. In addition to establishingsuch a power relation withintheCixous-Lispectorduo, Hel"ne Cixous's dialogue withthetexts of an "eigoisme of ClariceLispectorfailsto reachbeyondtheself-absorption 4 deux,"what PatriciaWilliams,in a different context,labels the "limited bipolarityof relationshipthatcharacterizesso much of westerncivilization" (160).2 By contrast,Lispector'snovel TheHour oftheStar,with its triangle of textual agents-the implied (female) author, the narrator RodrigoS.M., and thestarprotagonistMacabea-and throughitsmetafictionalforegrounding ofsubjectposition,appearsas a brilliantenactmentof theparadox of postmodernambivalentcritique,self-consciously engaging in theexerciseof (textual)power,even as it unmasksits own guilt-ridden complicity. TheOhioStateUniversity NOTES 1. "WhenI am leftquitealone,I cease toexist. I onlyexistin dialogue"(Borelli, 33). Thesearehandwritten 48);"Nepas laisseranyonequimedonneorders" (Borelli notes fromLispector's notebooks,transcribedby her friendand secretaryin a biographicalaccountpublishedafterthewriter'sdeath(mytranslation). 2. Cixous's own accountofherencounterwithLispector'stextscan be foundin thebilingualessay,"Vivrel'orange/ToLivetheOrange"in L'HeuredeClariceLispector dealt withtheBrazilian (Paris:des femmes,1989).Since 1978,Cixous has constantly bothinherwritings andlecturer. as teacher andinheractivity writer, ManyEnglish translations ofherworkon Lispectorare available,includingtwovolumesofselected fromCixous's seminarsat theUniversitede ParisVII and at theCollege transcripts bothselecInternational de Philosophie and Reading withClarice Lispector; (Readings tionswereedited,translated and introducedbyVerenaAldermatt Conley),as wellas several pieces in "Comingto Writing" and OtherEssays (Cambridge:HarvardUP, 1991). 3. Cf.Cixous,commenting on "themotherwho obviouslyforall Frenchwriting is thesea, la mer.In mylanguagewe have thegood fortuneto be able to say thatthe motheris thesea, thismakesup a partofourimagination, ittellsus something"(189b, 4). SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 60 Anna Klobucka 4. Lispector'slifestoryin manyways parallelsCixous's own: she was bornin theUkranianvillageofChechelnikto Jewishparentswho emigratedto Brazilwhen she was barelytwo monthsold. Throughouther life,Lispectorwas always consideredsomewhatexoticby theBrazilianadmirersof herworkand persona,critics and journalistswaxinglyricalabout themysterious appeal of herSlavic cheekbones and slanted"Asiatic"eyes.As forLispectorherself, she alwaystookpains to dismiss suchcomments, on herBrazilianness and agreeingto giveinterviews insisting chiefly in orderto explainthatshe was "nota myth,"buta "personlikeanyother"(Varin51, 35). 5. If I may ventureanotherfar-fetched remark,I would like to indicateherea since possible link to Cixous's personalnetworkof geolinguisticcorrespondences: itwould makesense thatLispector's side of thefamily, Spanishrelatesto herfather's butonly intothetheFrenchl'orange, Portugueselaranjatranslates orally(phonetically) visually(as a "dead," written sign)intotheSpanishnaranja.SaysCixous:"Mywriting was bornin Algeriaout ofa lostcountry, ofthedead fatherand theforeignmother." And,soon afterwards, "'Themothersings,thefatherdictates"(189b,2-4). 6. For example:'The openinglinesof [La PassionselonG.H.]: '-Je cherche,je cherche,j'essaie de comprendre.J'essaiede donnerce que j'ai vecu . . .' reflectthe ofbothinscribing in a a comprehensible formand [thenarrator's] difficulty experience sharingthatexperiencethroughlanguageso thatothersmay reliveit" (148). Or: "The languageofAgua vivais notone of logical,rationaldiscourse.As thenarrator tellsus on thefirstpage, 'Jesuis encorecapablede raisonnement-j'aidej* 6tudieles je veux le plasmathematiquesqui sontla foliedu raisonnement-maismaintenant du placenta"(149). ma-je veuxme nourrirdirectement 7. My quotationsfromthenovelwillgenerally followtheEnglishtranslation by GiovanniPontiero(Manchester: Carcanet,1986).I have,however,modifieditsubstantiallyforthesake ofaccuracy.In quotinglongerpassages,I havechosentoretainboth thePortugueseoriginaland thetranslation. 8. It should be noted here that RogrigoS.M. comes veryclose to saying, and passes in a flash.I know,forI have "Macabea,c'estmoi": "Deathis instantaneous justdied withthegirl"(85). 9. It is interesting to observethat,whenthe"anonymousgirl"is finallygivena name by thenarrator, it is thatofa "biblicalfigure."As NelsonVieiraproposes,The HouroftheStarcan be readas "an adaptationoftheapocryphalstoryoftheMaccabees to the contemporary world,representedby the cityof Rio de Janeiro,whereits becomes the symbolof the biblical protagonistMacabea, a poor Northeasterner, zealots" (207; my translation).Curiouslyenough,Hilkne Cixous,interestedas she has been in developingthe themeof the "Jewoman," has never,to my knowledge, remarkedupon this fascinatingdetail of Lispector'snovel. The significanceof Macabea's nameis particularly withthenamesof emphasizedbyitsbeingcontrasted herboyfriend and ofthewomanforwhomhe ultimately dumpsMacabea:respectively,Olimpicode Jesusand G16ria. 10. I will followheretheexamplesetby TheHouroftheStar,and back up my own ironicalmanipulationofgenderedpersonalpronounswithan explicitcomment. SinceWayneBooth'sall-maleassemblyofauthors,readersand speakerscan be said to performan exclusionarygesturetowardfemalereaders,speakers,or authors,my called forby Lispector's positingoftheactualreaderas female(whilenotnecessarily text)is meantto exposeand undermineBooth'sbias withoutdenyingthesubstantive usefulnessofhis argumentation. SubStance#73,1994 This content downloaded from 134.88.249.206 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 12:40:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Cixous and Lispector 61 11. I am quotingtheEnglishtranslation fromthevolumeSoulstorm (New York: New Directions,1989). It is curiousto notethatthetranslator, AlexisLevitin,omits theword "wheat"fromhis versionoftherespectivesentence,whichbecomessimply "I neverthoughtthattheworldand I wouldreachthispoint." 12. In Williams'sanalysis,concerning thedistribution oflegal rightsand structureofcontracts, effects of "linear,dual"6goismeAdeux" refersto theexclusionary in such the encounters," as, isticallyreciprocal my interpretation, relationship betweenCixous and Lispector(as construedby Cixous),or thepresumedcloseness betweenClariceand Macabea at thebasis of thenarrativedesignof TheHourofthe Star. An alternative structure wouldbe thatofa "giftrelationship," involvinga larger ("So all communitywhose wealthcirculatesin a constantprocessof give-and-take have it,even thoughtheydo not possess it and even thoughtheydo not own it"). Such a relationship, withall itsdifficulties and potentialpitfalls, appearsto havebeen offictional tentatively stagedin Lispector'snovel,withinitsdiscursive"community" and metafictional characters the encoded readers). (including WORKSCITED Carol (1983). "Hqlkne-Clarice: nouvelle voix." Contemporary Literature Armbruster, XXIV:2,145-157. 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