grammar+meaning
Does "its" in "Guided its course" refer to "this book" or "this subject" in the following sentence:

Given that no one text can cover the entire breadth of this subject, this book will look specifically at three major conceptual developments that have guided its course: literacy, caricature, and the rendering of sequential action.

and what would exactly "guided its course" mean here?

Thanks!

Question

grammar+meaning
Does "its" in "Guided its course" refer to "this book" or "this subject" in the following sentence:

Given that no one text can cover the entire breadth of this subject, this book will look specifically at three major conceptual developments that have guided its course: literacy, caricature, and the rendering of sequential action.

and what would exactly "guided its course"  mean here?

Thanks!

Answer

I disagree with Alex.

It refers to the subject the book is about. It's saying that because no single book can cover the entire breadth of the subject, that book will only look at three major developments the subject had. "Major conceptual developments that have guided its course" means that the developments contributed significantly to the modern development of the subject.

Answer

Sorry, to add:

"guided its course" means "contributed to the development of this book" in this context.

Answer

"its" refers to "this book".  You can tell because "its" is in the same clause as "this book" which is delineated by the comma in "... this subject, this book ...".