–Photo by Hui Huan Tang/Dawn.com

The session on literary criticism at the Karachi Literature Festival 2012 highlighted the link between the reader and the writer and also represented what the festival stood for – promotion of literary tradition in Pakistan, a chance for readers and authors to engage with eachother.

The panel on that session included Hanif Kureishi, Muneeza Shamsie, Alok Bhalla and Stefen Weidner, with moderator Maniza Naqvi. The session involved discussions on the importance of literary criticism and how it shapes what is written.

The first question raised was how important is literary criticism. Muneeza Shamsie responded by talking about the importance of book reviews. She stated that growing up in Pakistan; it was difficult to be guided as to what to read because there weren’t any books being reviewed. For avid readers in the country, choosing what to read does indeed prove to be a stumbling block.

Alok Bhalla said that literary criticism was important because it helped the civilised mind discriminate between what matters and what does not matter. Stefan Weidner, a journalist and writer from Germany, said that he understood literary criticism to be a discussion with the reader and the author.

Hanif Kureishi, author of The Buddha of Suburbia and My Beautiful Launderette elaborated on how it made a big difference to new writers to have readers, and to know that someone is out there reading their work. He added that criticism only mattered while the writer was writing but did not make a difference if it happens after the book is finished.

Kureishi, who is also a teacher, said that he encourages his young students to write in groups as that helps them discover readers and so write keeping the reader in mind.

Weidner said that readers are not stupid. He emphasised his point by saying that some of the bestselling books in Germany get the worst reviews and that goes to show how the reader is able to judge aptly what is good and what is not and also actively get involved in the process literary criticism by distinguishing between what is worthwhile and what is not.

On the point of electronic media and how it has changed the literary world, Kureishi said that with the electronic media being so accessible, everyone has the chance to write a book and make it available – what is important is that someone looks through all the material available and judge if it is worthwhile.

Shamsie raised the question that if it were not for electronic media, would the KLF have been as big as it was? There was general consensus among the panelists that while the internet has changed the literary scene, it is for the better since literature and literary criticism is all easily accessible to everyone.

The literature festival itself provided a chance for readers and authors to interact and converse about their work which provided the writers a window into what their actual audience, apart from book critics, think about their work.

The writer is an Assistant Multimedia Producer at Dawn.com