In our discussion this week we explore the extraordinary text, The Hour of the Star, written by the Brazilian writer, Clarice Lispector. This is a short narrative (a novella), but it is challenging, complicated, and perhaps, for some readers, infuriating as well as troubling. Our speaker (or narrator), Rodrigo S.M., writes the story that we read about the “northeastern girl,” Macabéa, who now lives in Rio de Janeiro in abject poverty. Rodrigo insists that he’s writing Macabéa’s story, but as we read and explore Rodrigo’s narrative, we encounter so much more than a simple narrative about a simple girl from Brazil.

• Post ONE comment in response to the prompts below. Each comment should be at least ONE paragraph (6-8 sentences)

Discussion Prompt:

1.The opening section of The Hour of the Star is “Dedication by the Author (actually Clarice Lispector).” In this particular section we read the following:

Most of all I dedicate it [the text] … to all those who reached the most alarmingly unsuspected regions within me, all those prophets f the present and who have foretold me to myself until in the instant I exploded into: I. This I that is all of you since I can’t stand being just me, I need others in order to get by, fool that I am, I all askew, anyway what can you do but meditate upon that full void you can only reach through meditation. Meditation doesn’t need results: meditation can be an end in itself. I meditate wordlessly and upon the nothing. What trips up my life is writing. (xiii-xiv)

Who is the speaker here? What does the speaker appear to be saying? How do you understand the meaning and significance of this passage? How does this passage introduce us to the text that follows?

2.Early in the narrative that follows the author’s dedication, we encounter the following:

I do not intend for what I’m about to write to be complex, though I’ll have to use words that sustain you. The story – I determine with free will – will have around seven characters and I’m obviously one of the more important. I, Rodrigo S.M. An old tale, this, since I don’t want to be all modern and invent trendy words to make myself look original. So that’s what I’ll try contrary to my normal habits to write a story with a beginning, middle, and “grand finale” followed by silence and falling rain. (4-5)

The speaker identifies himself as the writer — as well as a participant – in the story we read, and his name is Rodrigo S.M. Does the writer succeed in his goal to write a story “with beginning, middle, and “grand finale,” i.e. a linear narrative? What does he mean by “silence and falling rain” that follows the “grand finale”? How would you describe the text that Rodrigo writes, is it ‘linear”?

3.The French critic and theorist, Hélène Cixous, writes that The Hour of the Star “is a text on poverty that is not poor.” What does Cixous mean? Is this an accurate assessment of the narrative? Discuss (remember to include evidence from the text to support your discussion).

4.In his introductory comments, “A Passion for the Void,” the Irish writer, Colm Tóibín, offers the following insights about The Hour of the Star: “It has a way of being knowing and mysterious, garrulous and oddly refined. It withholds and it tells too much” (xi). What does Tóibín mean by this, and do you agree with his insights? Discuss (use examples from the narrative to support your discussion).

5.Do you have any further thoughts, insights, questions or confusions that you’d like to share with other class members?