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