Rakesh VedaIt is deeply saddening that the eminent Hindi literary critic, thinker, and public intellectual Virendra Yadav is no longer with us.
He was among the most significant critics, thinkers, and intellectuals of Hindi literature.
His life and work extended from literary criticism to broader social and political discourse.Yadav’s criticism was firmly rooted in a Marxist and progressive framework, wherein literature was viewed as a medium for exposing social power structures and inherent contradictions. His writings were not confined to technical or formal criticism; they consistently engaged with social, cultural, and political debates.He emphasized the importance of questioning established theories, schools of thought, and critical traditions, and remained an active participant in contemporary intellectual debates. From discussions on Premchand to historical discourses on the Uprising of 1857, and from contemporary socio-political issues to organizational deviations, his writing was marked by fearless and uncompromising commentary.His works are regarded as having given a new direction to critical discourse in Hindi literature. Through his criticism, he revealed the deep interconnections between text, society, politics, and culture. With his demise, the literary world has lost a thinker and guide — and I have lost a serious fellow traveller and friend of nearly five decades.(Writer is the national general secretary of the Indian People’s Theatre Association)
