{"title":"Impersonating Devotion","authors":"Constance M. Furey","doi":"10.1525/rep.2021.153.2.11","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"What can biblical psalms teach us about literary devotion? An unexpected answer to that question is provided by Philip Sidney’s The Defence of Poesy (1595), a touchstone of literary criticism in its time and in ours. The argument in this essay unfolds from analysis of a single paragraph, which reveals how Sidney’s description of King David’s Psalms challenges our regnant categories in the following way: If today religion connotes fidelity or devotion to an external authority, as for many it does, and if literature entails authorial sovereignty and independent creativity (also a widespread assumption), then Sidney’s approach deviates by equating divine inspiration with poetic creativity. His celebration of variable voices and personae, in particular, undermines the distinction between fidelity and autonomy by offering the psalmist’s voice as a model of transformative self-expression.","PeriodicalId":47353,"journal":{"name":"Representations","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Representations","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1525/rep.2021.153.2.11","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CULTURAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
What can biblical psalms teach us about literary devotion? An unexpected answer to that question is provided by Philip Sidney’s The Defence of Poesy (1595), a touchstone of literary criticism in its time and in ours. The argument in this essay unfolds from analysis of a single paragraph, which reveals how Sidney’s description of King David’s Psalms challenges our regnant categories in the following way: If today religion connotes fidelity or devotion to an external authority, as for many it does, and if literature entails authorial sovereignty and independent creativity (also a widespread assumption), then Sidney’s approach deviates by equating divine inspiration with poetic creativity. His celebration of variable voices and personae, in particular, undermines the distinction between fidelity and autonomy by offering the psalmist’s voice as a model of transformative self-expression.
期刊介绍：
An interdisciplinary journal edited by renowned scholars, Representations publishes trend-setting articles and criticism in a wide variety of fields in the humanities. In addition to special topical issues, tributes, and forums, inside you’ll find insightful coverage of: •The Body, Gender, and Sexuality •Culture and Law •Empire, Imperialism, and The New World •History and Memory •Narrative and Poetics •National Identities •Politics and Aesthetics •Philosophy and Religion •Race and Ethnicity •Science Studies •Society, Class, and Power •Visual Culture
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