The Joys of Teaching Literature, started in September 2010 and with a Spanish version since July 2021, is a blog for ranting and raving about teaching and researching English Literature, Cultural Studies, and Gender Studies, and other aspects of the Anglophone world. I publish a post once a week, usually on Monday. Please, download the yearly volumes for free or read the volume collecting some of the entries (Passionate Professing: The Context and Practice of English Literature, 2023). The comments option is not available, sorry, but you may contact me through my e-mail address, Sara.Martin@uab.cat. The contents of this blog are protected by a type 4 Creative Common License (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (by-nc-nd)).

  • REMARKABLE PRE-21ST CENTURY AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS: A LIST

    As I have mentioned I’ll be soon teaching an elective subject on autobiographies and memoirs (in English). In preparation, I’ve been putting together a list of 100 remarkable pre-21st century texts in those genres, apart from the list of 21st century books my students need to read (each student chooses four from this list). This…

  • NOTABLES AUTOBIOGRAFÍAS Y MEMORIAS ANTERIORES AL SIGLO XXI: UNA LISTA

    Como he mencionado, pronto impartiré una asignatura optativa sobre autobiografías y memorias (en inglés). En preparación, he estado elaborando una lista de 100 textos notables anteriores al siglo XXI en esos géneros, aparte de la lista de libros del siglo XXI que mis alumnos deben leer (cada estudiante elige cuatro de esta lista).Este tipo de…

  • RESPECT FOR WOMEN’S BODIES AND CHOICES: JENNIFER LOPEZ, MADONNA, AND GROK

    Today I’m writing from a mixed Gender Studies and Cultural Studies perspective adding, obviously, some very personal views. The gist of my argumentation can be summarized as ‘let 50+ women display their bodies as they wish and destroy Grok so that it can’t produce fake images of naked women’, but, logically, arguments like this are…

  • UN RESPETO POR LOS CUERPOS Y LAS DECISIONES DE LAS MUJERES: JENNIFER LÓPEZ, MADONNA Y GROK

    Hoy escribo desde la perspectiva de los Estudios de Género y los Estudios Culturales, añadiendo, obviamente, puntos de vista muy personales. La esencia de mi argumento puede resumirse así: ‘defiendo que las mujeres de más de 50 años muestren sus cuerpos como quieran y pido que se destruya Grok para que no pueda producir imágenes…

  • A BAD BEGINNING TO MY READING YEAR…

    I read in one sitting on January 1st Caroline Darian’s memoirs (in Spanish translation by Lydia Vázquez) Y dejé de llamarte papa (2025, Et j’ai cessé de t’appeler Papa). Caroline’s actual surname is Pelicot, but she is using a mixture of her brothers’ names (David and Florian) for her penname. In this touching book she…