Works of Art, Ekphrasis and Scopic Regimes in El siglo de las luces (1962) by Alejo Carpentier

Abstract

Critical studies on the relevance of the visual arts in El siglo de las luces (1962) by Alejo Carpentier have concentrated mainly on the emblematic character of painting in the narrative structure. This article recovers these readings in an allegorical and symbolic key to investigate other aspects that problematise the links between literature, scopic regimes and political praxis. Within this framework, we analyse the ekphrasis of the works of art present in El siglo de las luces as a device that combines a critical vision, not only the grounds of Enlightenment Modernity and their impact on Latin America, but also of the concept of modern art formulated in Europe during the eighteenth century. The study of ekphrasis exposes the questioning of two principles that define the category of modern European art: the principle of the autonomy of the work of art and that of the progress of artistic forms in tune with a linear and evolutionary model of temporality. Furthermore, the work explores the conception of art as an agent of transformation in scopic episteme (Brea, 2007) and the articulation between art and political praxis in the context of the Latin American neo-avant-gardes of the 1960s. Finally, the affiliations with the scopic regimes of the baroque and the artistic avant-gardes lead us to a reading of the imaginary transposition of the work of art in the denouement of the novel, whose transformation process goes from unstable baroque figuration to abstract disfigurement, imprinting a dialogue with post-war informalist artistic practices.