Course for international guest/part time students
- Faculty
- Faculty of Humanities
- Organization
- BTK Department of English Studies
- Code
- BBI-ANG22-227E.09
- Title
- Reading Literary Texts: The Essential Sir Philip Sidney: his works and legacy
- Usual semester
- Both
- ECTS
- 3
- Language
- en
- Learning outcomes
- This seminar course is a text-reading course of the major works of Sir Philip Sidney, offering a selection of his various literary output, including his poetry (most importantly the sonnets) and his crucial contribution to the ageCloseCurlyQuotes literary criticism, The Defence of Poesy. Students will be encouraged to find out more about the ageCloseCurlyQuotes complex literary activities and achievements examining SidneyCloseCurlyQuotes literary works and some of his letters. Learning outcome: Knowledge The student is familiar with the key stages of Sir Philip Sidney’s life and literary career, as well as the broader social and cultural context in which he lived and worked. The student has detailed knowledge of Sidney’s most significant works, with particular emphasis on the Astrophil and Stella sonnet cycle and the Defence of Poesy essay. The student understands the importance of Sidney’s oeuvre in the development of English literature. Skills The student is capable of independently and critically analyzing Sidney’s texts in terms of form, content, and style. The student can produce comparative literary analyses between Sidney’s works and those of his contemporaries (e.g., Shakespeare, Spenser). The student understands Sidney’s literary and poetic principles and is able to interpret the Defence of Poesy in relation to contemporary literature. Through textual analysis, the student can identify and contextualize historical, cultural, and generic connections. The student is able to recognize and interpret poetic conventions and possibilities across different genres (sonnet, song, prose, essay…). Attitudes The student demonstrates openness and receptivity toward the diversity of early modern English literature. The student values the historical and cultural embeddedness of literary texts. The student is committed to in-depth, analytical reading of literary works as a means of engaging in critical reflection. The student shows interest in literary-theoretical issues, particularly in the role and social relevance of poetry, and its applicability to the present day. The student respects differing interpretations and is open to dialogic, debate-based literary discourse.
- Course content
- Sir Philip Sidney is inarguably one of the most influential and complex figures of early modern cultural history, an ingenious poet, a literary critic, a courtier, a diplomat, a soldier. Although his importance is mostly overshadowed by Shakespeare and Elizabethan theatre, he produced one of the most important texts of the era, The Defence of Poesy, alongside with some of the most beautiful poems of the age. This seminar addresses his literary works – from the early poetry through Astrophil and Stella to Arcadia, and will give ample space and time to deal with The Defence of Poesy, hoping to give students an insight not only to his art and criticism, but to the ageCloseCurlyQuotes life and thinking, and in conclusion to some of SidneyCloseCurlyQuotes legacy and inspiration.
- Assessment method
- Active in-class participation; presentation (optional) and in class tests/essay; no more than three absences
- Bibliography
- Sir Philip Sidney: The Major Works (The Oxford Authors), edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones; Oxford and New York, OUP, 2002, 2008. Matuska Ágnes: Udvari és populáris kultúra a kora modern Angliában. Hungarológiai Közlemények, 17/2; 2016. http://epub.ff.uns.ac.rs/index.php/hk/article/view/1821/pdf