Sara Martín, The Joys of Teaching Literature, Vol 4, 2013-14 THE JOYS OF TEACHING LITERATURE VOLUME 6: September 2015- August 2016 Sara Martín Alegre Departament de Filologia Anglesa i de Germanística Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2016 blogs.uab.cat/saramartinalegre 1 Contents 5 September 2015 / I (DON’T) REMEMBER WHEN…: FORGETTING THE PRE-INTERNET PAST .................................................................................................................................. 1 10 September 2015 / AGGRESSIVE PEER REVIEWING: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ................. 3 17 September 2015 / HEADACHE: BEGINNING A NEW ACADEMIC YEAR ........................ 6 22 September 2015 / LOST IN TRANSLATION?: THE ODD EXPERIENCE OF TRANSLATING MYSELF ............................................................................................................................. 8 27 September 2015 / LITERATURE TEACHERS AND LITERARY PRODUCTION: WHEN A MERIT IS NOT A MERIT ................................................................................................... 10 2 October 2015 / PREPARING FOR DISASTER: READING POST-APOCALYPTIC FICTION 13 11 October 2015 / THE PARADOXES OF MIGRATION: SILENCES, ABSENCES AND UNHEEDED (LITERARY) WARNINGS ................................................................................ 15 18 October 2015 / WALTER TEVIS’ SF MASTERPIECE MOCKINGBIRD: THE END OF LITERACY ......................................................................................................................... 18 23 October 2015 / BOXED IN: ACADEMIC LIFE, TERRITORIALISM AND STRAYING OFF THE PATH (WITH THE BOLSHOI BALLET) ........................................................................ 20 29 October 2015 / GOING BACK WITH ALICE TO CHILDHOOD (WITHIN LIMITS) ........... 23 5 November 2015 / IN SEARCH OF GOOD MEN (AS ANTI-PATRIARCHAL ROLE MODELS) ........................................................................................................................................ 25 10 November 2015 / A BRIEF RETURN TO HOGWARTS, WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT COMMERCIAL LITERATURE ............................................................................................. 27 17 November 2015 / THE WRITER’S VIEW ON STYLE: A PASSAGE BY R.L. STEVENSON 30 22 November 2015 / A FAMILY SNAPSHOT: LITERATURE IN THE 39TH AEDEAN CONFERENCE .................................................................................................................. 32 29 November 2015 / RAMBLING THOUGHTS ON EMPATHY: TOWARDS A BETTER WORLD ............................................................................................................................ 35 5 December 2015 / THE GOOD STUDENT (AND WHY HAVING ONE IS SO EMBARRASSING) ............................................................................................................. 37 10 December 2015 / HACKING DOWN THE HUMANITIES: THE JAPANESE WARNING .. 39 15 December 2015 / SUPERVISING DOCTORAL STUDENTS: A COMPLICATED TASK ..... 42 21 December 2015 / BARCELONA, CITY OF LITERATURE (ACCORDING TO UNESCO): A MANIFESTO FOR READING ............................................................................................. 44 30 December 2015 / A CALL TO MAKE ROOM FOR GENDER IN THE SPANISH UNIVERSITY: THE ‘MANIFIESTO POR LA INCLUSIÓN DE LOS ESTUDIOS FEMINISTAS, DE MUJERES Y DE GÉNERO EN LA UNIVERSIDAD’ ............................................................... 48 5 January 2016 / MAY THE FORCE (NOT) BE WITH YOU: WHY WE CARE ABOUT STAR WARS .............................................................................................................................. 50 10 January 2016 / 100 YEARS, 100 FILMS: AN EDUCATION IN CINEMA HISTORY ......... 53 16 January 2016 / PRESENTISM: WHY THE PAST DOES NOT EXIST FOR YOUNG READERS ........................................................................................................................................ 57 27 January 2016 / WHEN (SPANISH) WRITERS RETIRE: PENSIONS AND CREATIVITY .... 59 30 January 2016 / THE LITERATURE OF THE ‘ROBOTIC MOMENT’: READING SHERRY TURKLE’S ALONE TOGETHER .......................................................................................... 62 3 February 2016 / THE FUTURE OF THE HUMANITIES? I HOPE NOT: READING ROSI BRAIDOTTI’S THE POSTHUMAN (2013) .......................................................................... 65 7 February 2016 / THE ROAD TO LEGITIMATION: SF PhD DISSERTATIONS IN SPAIN (1979-2015) .................................................................................................................... 68 11 February 2016 / THE ROAD TO LEGITIMATION (II): TEACHING SF WITHIN ENGLISH STUDIES IN SPAIN ........................................................................................................... 73 16 February 2016 / AN INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR: CELEBRATING MARIANO MARTIN RODRIGUEZ ..................................................................................................................... 76 21 February 2016 / NAVIGATING LITERATURE: A FEW POINTERS ................................. 78 26 February 2016 / WHY RESISTING EXCELLENCE IS (PARTLY) WRONG: RESPONDING TO AN INTERVIEW WITH INDOCENTIA ................................................................................ 81 2 March 2016 / SOME ARCHEOLOGY: THE OLD ‘LICENCIATURA’ IN ENGLISH PHILOLOGY (THINKING OF THE 3+2 REFORM) ................................................................................... 84 8 March 2016 / AFTER INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: PROGRAMMING WOMEN WRITERS IN OUR SYLLABI ............................................................................................... 86 13 March 2016 / “RINGIL ESKIATH. FAGGOT DRAGONSLAYER”: READY FOR A QUEER HERO? (RICHARD MORGAN’S A LAND FIT FOR HEROES) ............................................... 89 27 March 2016 / OF MEN… : MASCULINITIES STUDIES AND THE GRASSROOTS REALITY ........................................................................................................................................ 92 29 March 2016 / …AND SUPERMEN: READING GRANT MORRISON’S SUPERGODS ...... 95 3 April 2016 / REMEMBERING KURT COBAIN (MUSIC AND ENGLISH STUDIES) ............ 98 8 April 2016 / HOW TV IS IMPLODING: SERIES, RATINGS AND NEW CONSUMER HABITS ...................................................................................................................................... 101 12 April 2016 / PRESIDENT RAJOY AND THE STARSHIP THAT FAILED TO LAND ON NOU CAMP: ‘ESPERPENTO’, LOW SELF-ESTEEM AND CERVANTES ...................................... 104 21 April 2016 / SO YOU WANT TO PUBLISH A BOOK…: AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS .. 107 26 April 2016 / THE BIOLOGY OF CREATIVITY: A FIRST APPROACH ............................. 110 5 May 2016 / THE FIFTY-YEAR CRISIS: A PECULIAR TURNING POINT ........................... 112 10 May 2016 / LOSING THE BATTLE: THE VICTORY OF THE LECTURE OVER THE SEMINAR ....................................................................................................................... 115 17 May 2016 / CLASS IN THE CLASSROOM: RE-STARTING THE CONVERSATION......... 118 24 May 2016 / PATOLOGÍAS DE LA REALIDAD VIRTUAL BY TERESA LÓPEZ-PELLISA: A REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 121 3 June 2016 / WORKING, STUDYING AND THE EVER RISING FEES: SOME UGLY THOUGHTS .................................................................................................................... 124 5 June 2016 / THE BIOLOGY OF CREATIVITY: A SECOND APPROACH........................... 127 11 June 2016 / GONE LOVE: FROM ELIZABETH BENNET TO AMY DUNNE ................... 130 21 June 2016 / RE-INVENTING EXAMS: AN EXPERIENCE ............................................. 133 24 June 2016 / THE INCREDIBLY SHRINKING UNITED KINGDOM: ON BREXIT ............. 137 29 June 2016 / THE BODY AND THE BODIES: AGAINST UNIVERSALISM (IN AFFECT THEORY AND IN HORROR FILM) ................................................................................... 139 5 July 2016 / TYPESCRIPT OF THE SECOND ORIGIN: THE MASTERPIECE OF CATALAN SCIENCE FICTION .......................................................................................................... 143 7 July 2016 / FROM MECANOSCRIT TO TYPESCRIPT: TRANSLATING PEDROLO (AND THE QUIRKS OF INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL COMMUNICATION) ...................................... 146 13 July 2016 / JANE AUSTEN FOR BOYS?: ENJOYING MALE INTIMACY IN THE AUBREY- MATURIN SERIES BY PATRICK O’BRIAN ........................................................................ 148 4 August 2016 / WORKING FOR MEN’S CHANGE (I): LESSONS FROM BELL HOOKS .... 151 4 August 2016 / WORKING FOR MEN’S CHANGE (II): LESSONS FROM JOHN STOLTENBERG ............................................................................................................... 154 14 August 2016 / PHILOSOPHISING ABOUT GARDENING: A SINGULARITY OF BRITISH CULTURE ....................................................................................................................... 157 CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE/LICENCIA .................................................................... 161 PLEASE, NOTE: These are the posts that I have published in my academic professional blog The Joys of Teaching Literature (blogs.uab.cat/saramartinalegre/, since September 2010-) between September 2015 and August 2016. The volume, like the five previous ones, covers, then, a complete academic year. I have not re-edited the texts. They