Separate, to be whole

a commentary on Kadosh, by Hilda Hilst

Abstract

Hilda Hilst’s second fictional work, Kadosh (1973), contains four brief narratives, hence it is usually classified as a short stories book. This article proposes another approach: reading it like a novel, considering its parts not as short stories, but as chapters that present stages of the same journey. To support this, it analyzes the general structure of the book, highlighting paratextual elements, such as the epigraph and the dedication, and commenting on intratextualities and intertextualities, especially with the play The Dybbuk, by Sch. An-Ski. In conclusion, this study interprets the fragmentary aspect of Hilst’s fiction as a particular way of living, separate and/or holy, that desires wholeness but, always failing, experiences the search as the greatest purpose of literature.