Literary Critics - As a career option
A literary critic is a person who analyses the quality of a piece of writing. While writers and poets are people who keep human thought and creativity reaching out to new horizons, the critics are the ones who analyse the journey, develop theories on why people write what they write, what makes good writing good, and how literature affects the course of history.
Even though literary critics have acquired the general opinion of being about as far away from mathematics as possible, the work that they do is entirely based on analytical reasoning.
To become a good critic, it’s important for you to have a way with words and the ability to objectively assess the meaning, the connotation, the tonality, and the aesthetics of language.
This often means a considerable amount of study, so most literary critics tend to be cerebral bookworms with entire libraries in their heads.
Eligibility Criteria to Become a Literary Critic
- +2: No restrictions. Students from either stream (Science, Commerce, Arts) are eligible.
- Bachelor’s Degree: To become a literary critic, it’s important to study a language for a first degree. It doesn’t matter which language you pick, so the first step is usually considerably easy – getting into a BA (hons.) program after school. Most wannabe critics are going to use this time to simultaneously master a second or a third or even a fourth language, because knowing a new language opens up vast new avenues.
- Master’s Degree: Because BA degrees are general and don’t really make you excellent at any aspect of literature, you’re going to have to do an MA. Usually, literary critics who do not intend to stick with a single language (most don’t) are going to opt for comparative literature as an MA stream.
However, it’s not uncommon for people to specialize in a peripheral discipline such as linguistics, journalism, sociology, or even psychology.
After two years of master’s study, you can either get a Ph.D or start working. Jobs at this level are fairly limited, with the media industry being the most prominent sector of opportunity.
Starting a PhD level research requires you to take the NET exam for a fellowship. PhD in literature take from three to seven years in India and is often the first platform for a literary critic to start working in their intended capacity.
After acquiring a doctorate, critics can get into a number of interesting positions, such as journalism, editing, teaching, research, reviewers, and many others.
A Day in the Life of a Literary Critic
Hi, I’m Gayatri. I’m a research professor of comparative literature at one of the top universities in India, and a large body of my work pertains to the literary criticism of post-colonial and post-modern Indian literature. Here’s how a typical day in my life unfolds:
8:00 AM: I’m in a train on the way to a small village in the Bankura district of West Bengal to meet a small and forgotten theatre group. It’s still two hours before I reach, and I’m reading a Jacques Derrida book to pass the time.
10:00 AM: I’ve reached and I am in a hand-pulled rickshaw on the way to the village the group is from. I’ve been informed that these people have been around in the area since before the Common Era, and I believe that their theatrical and literary style is going to throw new light on Indian artistic expression over the colonial period.
11:00 AM: I’ve reached the village – it’s one of the poorest of the hundreds of village I have been to since I took up the profession. There’s no running water, no electricity, and no healthcare. It’s heartbreaking to see how, even in 2016, our society treats its subaltern.
A “subaltern”, by the way, is anyone who has been marginalized and no longer identifies with the voice of the social entity that represents them.
In our country, women, the oppressed castes, the differently able, certain religions, and the LGBT community, all comprise the 21st-century subaltern.
12:00 PM: I’m trying to use subaltern literature and art to bring out the voices, the emotions, and realities of life and the value in the opinions of these people, who will otherwise remain forever forgotten.
The group is visibly worried to know that a woman from the city has come to meet them. I don’t blame them – historically, their interaction with the rich and the privileged has been horrifying. I’ll try to get them to talk to me!
14:00 PM: I’ve been talking to these people for over three hours now, and I’m astonished to learn their way of life. Their ancestors came to these parts of the country thousands of years ago, as a class of people called the “Rudali”.
They earned their livelihood with tears – they were called upon to put on a show of grief and lamentation upon the death of members of the contemporary aristocracy.
Over centuries, their demands dropped until they could no longer sustain a livelihood in this fashion. It was then that they transformed their performance into a theatrical one and somehow managed to survive!
15:00 PM: After talking to the group for several hours, the one thing that I find particularly disturbing is that poverty, lack of exposure, and illiteracy has all but eradicated the group from the face of the earth.
The mere thought of a group of such elaborate history getting wiped out by 21st-century capitalism is horrifying. My goals here were initially only academic, but I’m going to see what I can do to prevent this.
17:00 PM: The first thing to do is to document their art. None of their work has previously been written down because none of them is literate.
However, if somebody were to do it, they would snugly fit into the genre of second and third theatre, and I’ve decided to see to it that these people get noticed.
19:00 PM: They have agreed to stage their acts for me every evening so that I can note down the proceedings and sum them up in a literary journal. I’m going to be here for a few days, then!
20:00 PM: The fascinating thing about being a literary critic, is that while thousands of us will give our opinion on what is already sophisticated, the few who descend into the realm of the forgotten never cease to be amazed. I’m going to start watching their first act now. After that, it’s bedtime.
Did you get fascinated by my work? Are you looking forward to pursuing this career? We hope this article has added something valuable to your search for this profession. Have your say in the comment box below. Enjoy Reading!