The Art Of Criticism
A comprehensive and good natured debate regarding the issues facing literary criticism. Prolific critical writer, Amitava Kumar began by enforcing the importance of individualism in criticism, stating his admiration for writing which “functions as something of a personal essay.” Drawing focus to contemporary Indian criticism, Amit Chaudhuri stated, “sometimes it seems to me in India, the novel is viewed through the prism of social science concerns.” British writer, Geoff Dyer highlighted the decreasing relevance of reviews suggesting, “a book can be a big hit despite the fact it has been universally panned.” Much attention was paid to form and style. Amitava Kumar and Amit Chaudhuri engaged in a discussion regarding the creative criticism perhaps best encapsulated by Amitav Kumar’s suggestion that, “the writer must identify the point of articulation”, further enforcing the importance of individualization. A question from the floor claming, “the critic is dead!” was immediately denounced by Geoff Dyer as a, “wild claim” and “completely not true”. In parallel to the generality which began the debate, Amit Chaudhuri’s closing statement was that critcism is essentially, “a certain faith in rationality and judgment.”
