Compared to an enormous amount of literature being produced, published and studied in the country, there is a no Indian critic being taught in various global schools of languages, according to renowned scholar and linguist Ganesh Devy.
"India has the highest number of post-metric universities. It is the only country that has dedicated a maximum number of educational departments for linguistic studies. We are largest literature producing, publishing and studying country; yet no Indian critic is taught in global schools of languages," he said.
Devy, said this today at a seminar on "Literary Criticism Today: Texts, Trends and Issues", organised by Sahitya Kala Academy as part of its annual Festival of Letters.
Devy, who had won recognition in India and abroad for his work towards the preservation of linguistic variety, described literary criticism as a tool.
"It brings in perspective, theoretical apparatus and ways of understanding to the vast complexities of Indian literature," Devy said.
Noted for bringing out a 50 volume survey of Indian languages recently, the scholar said he was disappointed at the state of Indian literary criticism.
"The state of literary criticism in India is not at par with the world. We need to walk a long distance. The challenge lies in encountering our own realities. There is an urgent need to dig up issues and bring them into the literary discourse," he said.
