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)).

  • WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE USA AND WHAT CAN BE DONE FROM ABROAD (WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT!)

    So, this woman, Fiona Hill, an Anglo-American academic, foreign affairs advisor and author, who since 2023 has served as Chancellor of Durham University, Wikipedia dixit, was interviewed on Chanel 4. Political activist George Conway posted a bluit highlighting her declaration that “The United States is on a path toward full-on state repression.” His post got…

  •  LO QUE ESTÁ PASANDO EN ESTADOS UNIDOS Y LO QUE SE PUEDE HACER DESDE EL EXTRANJERO (¡TENEMOS QUE HABLARLO!)

    Fiona Hill, académica, asesora de relaciones exteriores y autora angloamericana, que desde 2023 se desempeña como rectora de la Universidad de Durham, fue entrevistada en Chanel 4 hace un par de días. El activista político George Conway publicó un bluit sobre la entrevista, destacando que, según Hill, “Estados Unidos va camino de la represión estatal…

  • USING BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND ATTENDING CONFERENCES: WHEN CONVENTIONS WERE ESTABLISHED

    Sooo….. I asked ChatGPT after failing to find the information on Google about two matters. Here we go… I wrote: “I have read an academic book by Christopher Gillie called Characters in English Literature (1965), which has no bibliography. When did it become compulsory for academic books to have a bibliography or a works cited…

  • EL USO DE BIBLIOGRAFÍA Y LA ASISTENCIA A CONGRESOS: CUÁNDO SE ESTABLECIERON LAS CONVENCIONES

    Pues… caí en la tentación y le pregunté a ChatGPT, después de no poder encontrar la información en Google, sobre dos asuntos. Allá vamos… Escribí: “He leído un libro académico de Christopher Gillie llamado Characters in English Literature (1965), que no tiene bibliografía. ¿Cuándo se hizo obligatorio que los libros académicos tuvieran una bibliografía o…

  • IN HOW MANY LEVELS DO CHARACTERS IN NOVELS OPERATE?: A PRACTICAL PROPOSAL

    Continuing with my reading of bibliography on the minor characters, this week I’ve perused David Galef’s The Supporting Cast: A Study of Flat and Minor Characters (1993), a volume less well regarded than Alex Woloch’s The One and the Many but still quite remarkable. Whereas Woloch focuses on the 19th century novel (Austen, Dickens, Balzac),…