“HAPPINESS WOULD ALWAYS BE CLANDESTINE TO ME”: Suffering as a passage from childhood to maturation in Felicidade Clandestina, by Clarice Lispector

Abstract

This paper analyzes the representation of childhood and female maturation in the anthology Felicidade Clandestina (1971), by Clarice Lispector, focusing on the short stories “Felicidade Clandestina,” “Restos de Carnaval,” and “Os Desastres de Sofia.” The objective is to investigate how these narratives subvert idealized visions of childhood and its maturation processes, marked by the stream of consciousness and the philosophical and psychological depth characteristic of Lispector's work. The theoretical framework is based on Freudian psychoanalytic concepts, such as the superego, malaise, and melancholy, as well as Antonio Candido's reflections on literature as a humanizing factor and the historiography of childhood proposed by Regina Zilberman. The analysis demonstrates that, in the selected stories, suffering and the relationship with the "other" act as catalysts for the characters' growth, while also contributing to the development of the short narrative form. Lispector's writing in the 1970s constructs a cartography of female identity that resonates as a fundamental element of the Brazilian aesthetic memory of late Modernism, serving as a foundation for the formation of contemporary Brazilian literature.