‘Başkalarının Ölçülerine’ Karşı: Sidney ve Spenser’da Milliyetçiliği Yeniden Değerlendirmek

Year 2019, Vol 18 IDEA Special Issue, 139 - 149, 31.12.2019

Murat Öğütcü

https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.596529

Abstract

Eleştiri
geleneği, Sir Philip Sidney ve Edmund Spenser’ı Erken Modern Dönem
İngiltere’deki milliyetçi hareketin öncüleri arasında konumlandırır. Tarihsel
bir bakış açısıyla, bu görüş, 19. ve 20. yüzyıl edebiyat eleştirmenlerinin İngilizliği
yüceltme amacıyla edebiyat kanonundaki ulusal şair kavramını oluşturmalarının
bir sonucudur. Oysa Erken Modern Dönem’de millet fikri, dinin, mezhebin, ırkın,
coğrafyanın ve sosyal sınıfın önem taşıdığı çok katmanlı bir olguydu. Ulusal
ve uluslararası ilişkiler, İngilizler, Hollandalılar, Fransızlar, ve bunları
daha da alt gruplara bölen Protestanlar, Katolikler, Püritenler ve daha birçok
grup tarafından doldurulmuş olan nispeten kozmopolit 16. yüzyıl Londra
sokaklarında günlük olarak hissedilebilirdi. Dahası, İngilizcenin edebi ve
edebi olmayan düzeylerde yüceltilmesi ile ilgili entelektüel tartışmalar,
bugünkü milliyetçilik anlayışımızın ima ettiği homojenlikten uzaktı. Aksine,
edebi ve edebi olmayan entelektüel tartışmalar, taklit, çeviri, uyarlama ve
denemelerden oluşan fikir alış verişlerinin sonucuydu. Bu nedenle,
milliyetçilik, Sidney ve Spenser’ın çalışmalarında ulusal kimlikleriyle ne
kadar gurur duyduklarını ve yüceltmek istediklerini anlamak için 19. ve 20.
yüzyıl konseptlerinden 16. yüzyıldaki milliyetçilik anlayışı doğrultusunda tarihsel çerçevede yeniden
konumlandırılmalıdır. Buna göre,
bu çalışmada Sidney ve Spenser’ın eserleri, başta şiirleri olmak üzere,
milliyetçilik kavramından hareketle incelenecektir.

Keywords

Erken Modern Dönem, Milliyetçilik, Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser

Against ‘others' feet’: Reassessing Nationalism in Sidney and Spenser

Abstract

The critical
tradition positions Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser among the pioneers of
the nationalistic movement in Early Modern England. From a historical point of
view, this has been the result of the promotion of Britishness by 19th and 20th
century literary critics through their construction of national poets in the
literary canon. Yet, the idea of nation in the Early Modern Period was a
multi-layered phenomenon in which religion, sectarianism, race, geography, and
social rank were of significance. International and intranational relationships
could be felt on a daily basis on the streets of the relatively cosmopolitan
London that was populated by the English, the Dutch, and the French, which were
further divided into Protestants, Catholics, Puritans, and many more groups in
the 16th century. What is more, intellectual discussions about the promotion of
the English tongue on literary and non-literary levels were far from the
homogeny which our present understanding of nationalism implies. Rather,
literary and non-literary intellectual discussions were the result of the
negotiations of imitation, translation, appropriation, and experimentation.
Hence, nationalism should be re-historicised from its 19th and 20th century
concepts to the 16th century to understand to what extent Sidney and
Spenser were proud of and promoted their national identities in their works.
Accordingly, this article will attempt to discuss nationalism in Sidney
and Spenser’s works with a primary focus on their poetry.

Keywords

Early Modern Period, Nationalism, Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser

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