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)).

  • POLITICS IN CLASS: PRO-HUMAN RIGHTS

    I was told yesterday that I must bear in mind that not all of our students agree with the left-wing political position I defend, as a feminist and a socialist, and that some actually support right-wing policies. This is hardly surprising if we take into account voting statistics and the growth of the extreme right…

  • POLÍTICA EN CLASE: A FAVOR DE LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS

    Ayer me dijeron que debo tener en cuenta que no todos nuestros estudiantes están de acuerdo con la posición política de izquierdas que defiendo, como feminista y socialista, y que algunos incluso apoyan las políticas de derechas. Esto no es sorprendente si tenemos en cuenta las estadísticas de voto y el crecimiento de la extrema…

  • VILLAINOUS WOMEN IN FICTION: A BOOK SOMEONE OUGHT TO WRITE

    Many years ago, a publisher offered me the chance to publish a book about the figure of the femme fatale, addressed to a general readership. I cannot recommend enough the two books by Bram Dijkstra’s Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-de-Siècle Culture (1986) and Evil Sisters: The Threat of Female Sexuality in…

  • VILLANAS EN LA FICCIÓN: UN LIBRO QUE ALGUIEN DEBERÍA ESCRIBIR

    Hace muchos años, una editorial me ofreció la oportunidad de publicar un libro sobre la figura de la mujer fatal, dirigido a un público general. No puedo recomendar lo suficiente los dos libros de Bram Dijkstra Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-de-Siècle Culture (1986) y Evil Sisters: The Threat of Female Sexuality…

  • TWO PROJECTS WITH STUDENTS: MINISERIES AND REVIEWS

    I have published this week not one but TWO books gathering works written by my students. As I have been narrating here, I started publishing students’ work back in 2013-14, when I edited two volumes on Harry Potter. I became then hooked on project-oriented teaching for BA and MA subjects, mostly electives, and these new…