El recurso del método (Reasons of State), published in 1974 by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, has often been analyzed along with other dictatorship novels focusing on recurring themes, such as violence, rebellion, US imperialism or the dictator’s solitude. This essay introduces a “sensory approach” arguing that Carpentier revisits the traditional hierarchy of the five senses. Thematically, the novel emphasizes the “spectacular” and panoptical dimension of the dictator’s regime; however, this visual (and aural) domination is questioned by the Marxist opposition embodied in the character of the Student. From an intertextual perspective, Carpentier’s use of quotations from Descartes paradoxically undermines the Cartesian cogito, and the protagonist’s behavior ultimately evolves toward an anti-Cartesian and anti-ocularcentric stance, as epitomized by the figure of Mayorala Elmira. Reflecting on these two dimensions of the novel from a sensorial point of view contributes to a more nuanced understanding of Carpentier’s poetics.

In ‘Notes on Writing a Novel’, Elizabeth Bowen addresses the visual angle an author may choose to adopt as a problem in writerly technique: ‘Where is the camera-eye to be located?’ As she was a self-described ‘visual writer’, it follows that an exploration of her visuality offers a useful lens to perceive her work. Talk of lenses leads to thoughts of eyes, glasses, and photography, all of which feature prominently in her fiction. Bowen’s visuality also manifests itself across technical, aesthetic, and thematic levels, through linguistic choice, and in the rendering of perception. Through a selection of novels and short stories, this essay considers Bowen’s visuality under two lens-based categories – the human ‘roving eye’ and the photograph, index of the mechanical ‘camera eye’ – in an effort to apprehend, at least in part, her literary focus, and how she registers, records, and frames impressions and experiences.