THE RELIGIOUS NATION: CUBA AND THE TELEOLOGICAL POETICS OF JOSÉ LEZAMA LIMA

‘Teleology’ is the word with which some criticism identifies José Lezama Lima’s effort to elaborate a national myth. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the polemic nature of this myth. In contrast with some political interpretations that see in this telos a myth of state, this text will show that the main content of this teleology is religious, and that it is so because makes emphasis on what Emmanuel Levinas called the face-to-face between humans.