“IN literature,” said Andre Maurois, “as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.” Lists of best-selling pieces of literature may or may not testify to the statement, but one cannot help feeling amazement, and in some cases even amusement, when a wretched piece of our contemporary literature is eulogised by some critics.

A look at Karachi’s literary scene would make you realize that we don’t really have any literary forums, seminars or symposia to weigh, judge and understand literary and social trends. What we have instead are literary sittings and book launches. Contemporary Urdu criticism in Karachi manifests itself mostly in the form of launch ceremonies. These ceremonies have been very common for the last two decades or so. What we find, however, at such gatherings in the name of criticism or literary evaluation is nothing but shameless flattery and hypocrisy. On the part of the writers, it is a naked public relations exercise in connivance with pseudo-critics -- a kind of distasteful and unsubtle self-glorification which morbid minds enjoy but which gives a nauseating feeling to many. It could have been dismissed as a mere promotional gimmick, but even a marketing campaign must have some subtlety.

As for pseudo-critics, it is a chance to go onto the stage, get photographed and coverage in the newspapers that publish every press release generally written by the ones they call “a well-known critic and intellectual Mr XYZ”.

This exercise has brought up a whole new breed of pseudo-critics who may not know much about either Urdu or literature but are well-versed with the art of public relations as well as grabbing photo sessions.

Gone are the days when Karachi had genuine literary critics such as Hasan Askari, Akhter Hussain Raipuri, Mumtaz Shirin, Prof Mumtaz Hussain, Prof Mujtaba Hussain, Majnoon Gorakhpuri and Saleem Ahmed.

Apart from these names of a bygone era and a few genuine and senior living critics, who are research scholars as well, Karachi has not produced any real critics in the past half century. What we have now is a crop of sycophants who don’t have any credentials in the form of published works but are eager to exhibit their smiles on TV screens and to rattle off speeches (from the podium at a book-launch, etc), which generally consist of classroom notes, prepared some 25 years ago to get through their exams. These fake critics can only eulogize their fellow writers who happen to be their friends.

G.K. Chesterton once said: “Either criticism is no good at all (a very defensible position) or else criticism means saying about an author the very things that would have made him jump out of his boots”.

But in contemporary Urdu literature criticism means saying things about an author the very things that would make him/her smile and would have made the listeners at the book launches jump out of the auditorium but they just cannot do this because most of them are either the author’s friends or want to have the same critic invited at their own book’s launching planned for next week.

What makes me wonder is who are the people -- apart from the organizers, the author and pseudo-critics -- that go to these ceremonies and waste their invaluable time listening to the same old, hackneyed platitude? Have any clues?

— drraufparekh@yahoo.com