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)).

  • YOUR OWN BRAND: THE (IN)VISIBILITY OF ACADEMICS

    To my surprise, my school invited me to attend a seminar by writer and coach Neus Arquès addressed to making our personal brands more solid and visible. Having turned herself into a self-employed consultor, Arquès claims that she was one of the introducers in Spain of the idea of the personal brand, beyond, I assume,…

  • ESTUPIDEZ: LA PALABRA PROHIBIDA EN EL AULA

    Recomiendo de todo corazón el delicioso volumen colectivo editado por el psicólogo Jean-François Marmion, El triunfo de la estupidez (originalmente Psychologie de la Connerie, 2018) por su verdaderamente gloriosa incursión en todo tipo de tontería. Realmente hace pensar. El libro de Marmion advierte que la estupidez es difícil de definir y explorar porque tiene múltiples…

  • STUPIDITY: THE FORBIDDEN WORD IN THE CLASSROOM

    I whole-heartedly recommend the delicious collective volume edited by psychologist Jean-François Marmion, The Psychology of Stupidity (2020; originally Psychologie de la Connerie, 2018; trans. Liesl Schillinger) for its truly glorious outing of all types of thoughtlessness. It is really thought-provoking! Marmion’s volume warns that stupidity is hard to define and explore because it has multiple…

  • ESCRITORES QUE ESCRIBEN SOBRE LIBROS: LEYENDO EL PUNTO CIEGO DE JAVIER CERCAS

    Cometí un error al tomar prestado El punto ciego de Javier Cercas de la biblioteca, creyendo erróneamente que era un volumen de Javier Marías. Leí el resumen—el libro reúne cinco conferencias pronunciadas por el autor cuando fue nombrado ocupante de la Cátedra Weidenfeld de Literatura Europea en el St Anne’s College de Oxford en 2015—y…

  • WRITERS WRITING ON BOOKS: READING JAVIER CERCAS’ EL PUNTO CIEGO / THE BLIND SPOT

    I made a mistake when I borrowed Javier Cercas’ El punto ciego from the library, wrongly believing it was a volume by Javier Marías. I read the summary⁠—the book gathers together five lectures delivered by the author when he was appointed Weidenfeld Chair of European Literature at St Anne’s College at Oxford in 2015—and I…