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)).

  • CRAVING FOR CREATIVITY IN LITERARY RESEARCH (AFTER A SEMINAR)

    A week ago, the research group I currently belong to, Beyond Postmemory, held the seminar “Nature Remembers: War, Trauma and Environmental Postmemory,” in which we discussed how not only human beings but also nature can suffer, so to speak, from PTSD and show signs of trauma long after a conflict. Postmemory, a concept coined by…

  • GANAS DE CREATIVIDAD EN LA INVESTIGACIÓN LITERARIA (DESPUÉS DE UN SEMINARIO)

    Hace una semana, el grupo de investigación al que pertenezco actualmente, Beyond Postmemory, llevó a cabo el seminario “La naturaleza recuerda: guerra, trauma y postmemoria ambiental”, en el que debatimos cómo no solo los seres humanos sino también la naturaleza pueden sufrir, por así decirlo, de TEPT y mostrar signos de trauma mucho después de…

  • BEST OF CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS: THE ATLANTIC’S SELECTION (AND A PERSONAL TOUCH)

    Today I’m shamelessly piggybacking, this time using The Atlantic’s wonderful selection of 65 outstanding US picture books for infant and toddler ‘readers’ to fill in this blog entry. The piece is not signed, but you can find for each book a comment by the person who chose it (authors, librarians and other experts).           The…

  • LIBROS ILUSTRADOS (ESTADOUNIDENSES) PARA NIÑOS: UNA APROXIMACIÓN (CON UN RECUERDO PERSONAL)

    Hoy pensaba ofrecer un texto específico para esta versión del blog en castellano, pero me doy cuenta de que necesito unos conocimientos sobre el libro ilustrado infantil en castellano que no tengo. Así que procedo a traducir la entrada de la versión en inglés.           Básicamente, se trata de una lista de libros ilustrados para…

  • RETHINKING GEORGE MONBIOT’S CONCEPT OF VENGEFUL NIHILISM: US PATRIARCHY’S NEW PHASE?

    I’m reacting much belatedly to an article by George Monbiot, a noted environmentalist and Guardian columnist. The article is called “The fact that humans can only survive on Earth doesn’t bother Trump – and I know why”, and was published on 5 March this year. The subtitle announces that “Vengeful nihilism is a big part…