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 from https://ddd.uab.cat/record/116328, 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)).

  •  A DEPARTMENT OUTING AND A BIT OF HISTORY: TO PARADISE

    When the new Head of Department was appointed back in February 2023, we also appointed informally a ‘party planning committee’, constituted by two of my colleagues and myself. Perhaps you are part of that kind of Department in which people meet regularly for coffee breaks and lunch, and after hours for drinks, meals, or partying,…

  •  UNA SALIDA DE DEPARTAMENTO Y UN POCO DE HISTORIA: AL PARAÍSO

    Cuando se escogió la nueva Dirección del Departamento en febrero de 2023, también nombramos informalmente un comité de festejos, constituido por dos de mis colegas y por mí. Tal vez seáis parte de ese tipo de Departamento en el que la gente se reúne regularmente para tomar café y almorzar, y al acabar la jornada…

  • AND SIX WEEKS LATER…: TIME AND TIREDNESS

    It’s been six weeks since I last wrote in this blog, the longest break I have taken since I started it back in 2010 and, hence, a cause for reflection on time and tiredness. In these weeks I have seriously considered closing down the blog, fearing that I simply have no time for it. A…

  • Y SEIS SEMANAS MÁS TARDE… : TIEMPO Y CANSANCIO

    Han pasado seis semanas desde la última vez que escribí en este blog, el descanso más largo que me he tomado desde que lo comencé en 2010 y, por lo tanto, un motivo de reflexión sobre el tiempo y el cansancio. En estas semanas me he planteado seriamente cerrar el blog, temiendo que simplemente no…

  • KING SOLOMON’S MINES: “IT IS A QUEER BUSINESS”

    Even though I have been teaching H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines (1885) for a few years now, it seems I have not written about this novel here. A bit odd. Since I am most likely saying goodbye to it, this is perhaps the right moment to discuss its racist, colonial content, the issue on…