José María Andrés Fernando Lezama Lima (December 19, 1910 – August 9, 1976) was a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

n writer, poet and essayist. He is considered one of the most influential figures in

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a pers ...

and Latin American literature. His novel ''Paradiso'' is one of the most important works in Spanish and one of the best novels of the 20th Century according to the Spanish newspaper '' El Mundo.'' Lezama is a prominent referent of American Neo-Baroque literature. He created a mature poetic system characterized by its lyricism. His work features a wide variety of

metaphors A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared with ...

allusions Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...

and

allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

which he developed in essays such as ''Analecta del reloj'' (1953), ''La expresión americana'' (1957), ''Tratados en La Habana'' (1958) o ''La cantidad hechizada'' (1970).

Biography

Born in the Columbia Military Encampment close to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in the city of Marianao where his father was a colonel, Lezama lived through some of the most turbulent times of Cuba's history, fighting against the

Machado Machado is a surname of Portuguese origin meaning the word "axe" or "hatchet" dating back to approximately 2nd century Europe. It is commonly found in Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Latin America, and India (Southern Tamil Nadu and Southern Kerala) d ...

dictatorship. His literary output includes the semi-autobiographical, baroque novel '' Paradiso'' (1966), the story of a young man and his struggles with his mysterious illness, the death of his father, and his developing sensuality and poetic sensibilities. Lezama Lima also edited several anthologies of Cuban poetry and the magazines ''Verbum'' and ''Orígenes'', presiding as the patriarch of Cuban letters for most of his later years. Lezama Lima spent little time outside of his home country, making a trip to Mexico in 1949 and Jamaica in 1950José Lezama Lima Cronología
). Nevertheless, Lezama's poetry, essays and two novels draw images and ideas from a vast array of world cultures and historical time periods. The Baroque style that he forged relied equally upon his Góngora-influenced syntax and his stunning constellations of unlikely images, which often drew from Ancient Chinese and Egyptian philosophical texts and mythological narratives. Lezama Lima's first published work, the long poem "Muerte de Narciso," brought him national acclaim at the age of twenty-seven and established his well-wrought style and classical subject matter. In addition to his poems and novels, Lezama wrote many essays on figures of world literature such as

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of ...

, Valéry, Góngora and

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

as well as on Latin American baroque aesthetics. Most notably the essays published as ''La Expresión Americana'' lay out his vision of the European baroque, its relation to the classical, and the American baroque. Lezama Lima died in 1976 at age 65 and was buried in the

Colon Cemetery, Havana El Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón, also called La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón, was founded in 1876 in the Vedado neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba to replace the Espada Cemetery in the Barrio de San Lázaro. Named for Christopher Columbus, ...

. He was influential for Cuban and Puerto Rican writers of his generation and the next, such as

Virgilio Piñera Virgilio Piñera Llera ( Cárdenas, Cuba, August 4, 1912 – Havana, October 18, 1979) was a Cuban author, playwright, poet, short story writer, essayist and translator. His most notorious works are the poem ''La isla en peso'' (1943), the collec ...

Reinaldo Arenas Reinaldo Arenas (July 16, 1943 – December 7, 1990) was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright known as a vocal critic of Fidel Castro, the Cuban Revolution, and the Cuban government. His memoir of the Cuban dissident movement and of being a po ...

, Fernando Velázquez Medina,

René Marqués René Marqués (October 4, 1919 – March 22, 1979) was a Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright. Early years Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo. He developed an interest in writing at a young age and was ...

, and

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

, who depict his life and works in their writing.

Works

Poetry

* ''Muerte de Narciso'' (1937) * ''Enemigo rumor'' (1941) * ''Aventuras sigilosas'' (1945) * ''La fijeza'' (1949) * ''Dador'' (1960) * ''Fragmentos a su imán'' (1978)

Novels

* '' Paradiso'' (1966) * ''Oppiano Licario'' (1977)

Essays

* ''Analecta del reloj'' (1953) * ''La expresión americana'' (1957) * ''Tratados en La Habana'' (1958) * ''La cantidad hechizada'' (1970)

References

External links

José Lezama Lima Digital Collection
at th

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

*Voces on PBS
"Letters to Eloisa" recounts the life of Cuban literary great José Lezama Lima
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lima, Jose Lezama 1910 births 1976 deaths 20th-century essayists 20th-century male writers 20th-century Cuban novelists 20th-century Cuban poets Cuban essayists Cuban gay writers Cuban LGBT poets Cuban LGBT novelists Magic realism writers Male essayists Gay poets Gay novelists Cuban male novelists Cuban male poets People from Havana University of Havana alumni 20th-century LGBT people