As tensões do jardim: a construção discursiva da epifania no conto "Amor", de Clarice Lispector

Abstract

This work offers a discursive description of what has been called “epiphany” and “undecipherability” in Clarice Lispector’s work by literary criticism (CAMPOS, 2017; SÁ, 1979). In order to analyse the particular arrangement of the epiphany on Lispector’s “Amor”, theoretical tools from French school Semiotics (GREIMAS, 2014) and its tensive ramification (ZILBERBERG, 2006a; 2006b; 2011) were used. Following the course of the narrative, this article discusses the initial construction of the unstable state in which Ana, the central character, finds herself. To do so, the temporal configuration during the streetcar ride in described, as well as her internal flow of conscience; followed by the construction of a social addresser (destinateur) which enthralls her into her daily life; and ending on the discussion of the aspectual flux established between past and present. The actual epiphany and its profound connection to feelings of piety and compassion (LIMA, 2016) is then discussed, which entails a description of these fractures on daily life (GREIMAS, 2017) and the issuing conflict of sensations experienced by the character in the Botanical Garden. Her path ends with a return home, which is in turn invaded by the external sensations. The article closes with the description of the discursive progression of her re-establishment in the conjunction (conjonction) with her husband. Through the scrutiny of this short story, one could argue that, far from undecipherable, the confusion in which the character finds herself is profoundly woven into the discursive fabric and organized as to lead the reader into experiencing, with Ana, a pitying, compassionate epiphany.