Clarice’s last breath: Um sopro de vida as Ars Poetica

Abstract

Um sopro de vida is a difficult text, with an uncertain origin, irregular structure and problematic classification, which has occupied, until now, a marginal place in the Clarice Lispector’s production. Contrasting with the immense popularity of Água viva and A hora da estrela (works from the same period with thematic and structural similarities), this text was less recognized. However, this literary project, although unfinished, contains Clarice's last metalinguistic reflections on the act of writing: a poetic literary text that comments on the production of another equally poetic text. In this work I present the problem of its origin and structure; I evaluate critical appraisals; unravel questions of literary structure and genre; and I suggest reading it as a peculiar “ars poetica”.