『시의 옹호』와 『애스트로필과 스텔라』: 필립 시드니의 가장의 책략

Abstract

The Defense of Poesy is considered as a representative example of Renaissance criticism in which Philip Sidney summed up the theories of literature and defended literature while keeping his stance as a humanist. This article, however, sees the Defense of Poesy from a rather different point of view by connecting it to the author’s sonnet sequence, Astrophil and Stella. The two works share a common characteristic in that Sidney employes the strategy of ‘sprezzatura’ which was originally emphasized by Castiglione as an important virtue to be equipped by a courtier. Sidney hides his real ambition for politics by saying that his situation forced him to write almost against his will in defense of literature in the Defense of Poesy. By putting his persona, Astrophil, into the foreground in his sonnet sequence, Sidney seemingly hides behind his narrator. However, this strategy of ‘sprezzatura,’ which is often translated as ‘disguise,’ works not only to hide his political ambition but to reveal his affection toward literature. By lowering himself to a poet who is obliged to defend literature against his wishes, Sidney succeeds in defending poetry and explicating his theory of poetry from that position of a humble poet.