Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1991. British and American Philologycal Studies (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 20)
Katona Gábor: Twentieth Century Critical Bias Concerning the Choice of a Dominating Philosophical Influence in idney's Defence
103 I Maker stands for God and Poem stands for his creation. DeNeef claims that according to Sidney, the poet's task is not the teaching of ideas, but the communication of his fore-conceits to the reader. The poetic conceit occupies a middle position between the text and the idea of the poet. DeNeef refers to Christian faculty psychology in so far as he relies on the Augustinian conception of the word that was in the beginning, the inner, unspoken word innate in the mind, and the outer, spoken word of language. (De Trinitate) The word is different from, and, at the same time, identical with the logos. As spoken words are more corrupted than their immanent source in the psyche, they can only approach the word of truth by likeness, by analogy, in enigma. All knowledge is metaphoric in its küld, so the standard and value of literary achievement is to be measured by the strength and energy of "moving". What are the criteria of good reading? 1. Readers must always be aware that literary texts are fictitious and metaphoric 2. Poems demonstrate their poets' skill by their "likeness" or "unlikeness" to the fore-conceit 3. Good readers should recognize the poetic idea beyond the work Bad readers tend either to forget that the poem they are reading is not necessarily a true account of reality or deny its authenticity altogether. DeNeef points out that there is an implicit definition of bad readers in Sidney's delineation of "right" poets. n o M. W. Ferguson^ 0 investigates Sidney's apologetic attitude in the Defence and finds that several of Sidney's intellectual affinities lie with Freud. Sidney tries to convince his opponents that their objections leave poetic dignity untouched, while they greatly affect then own capacity to enjoy poetry. Sidney is answering threats in the Defence attacking poetry from three directions: 1. from history (historical facts are valid, poetry is fictitious) 2. from bad readers (a false interpretation of poetry) 3. from of philosophy (exaggerated ethical demands) Ferguson compares the Defence to Freud's defence of psychology in the thirties, since both writings are concerned with deviations in creative thinking as well as with s projects of setting it right. Previous criticism has often tried to find a dominating cultural influence in the Defence, while critics like DeNeef and Ferguson have probed t into Sidney's logic instead. DeNeef points out that Sidney's claim for intellectual independence can be explained by his interpretation of creation:
