The Erotics of Instruction

by Regina Barreca (Editor)

A lively exploration of the manifestations of passion and desire in the teacher-student relationship.

Genres: Teaching

178 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Joe]

A note on the title page says that I read this book in May 1997. I reread it (most of it) now for a writing project I'm working on. I feel ambivalent. On the one hand, these are smart, well-written pieces (much better than most academic pieces) on the erotic pulls and tensions between teachers and students, mostly as shown through various high-culture novels. I can't claim to be able to do better. On the other hand, they're just not all that interesting.

I think there's some sort of lesson in hubris and mortality here. Ozymandias, and all that.

[Jason Courtmanche]

My colleague is one of the editors of this book. I found her introductory essay to be the best. Most other writers seemed to have shied away from the subject a bit, and addressed the erotic components of instruction as found in novels where there is an erotic relationship between characters who are teacher and student. Gina actually addresses the real subject in her essay, which is serious but also funny and irreverent, for those of you not familiar with her writing.

[Meg]

Sounds salacious, but is quite academic. I enjoyed the essay on “Oleanna,” which, as writer Montana Katz points out, “ serves as a time-worn tool to turn the tables of attention and blame toward women, toward those who are the actual victims of sexual harassment” (164).

[Isham Cook]

One of the last texts to come out advocating for the possibilities of eroto-romantic teacher-student relationships (in a long line of such texts going back to the 12th-century Letters of Abelard and Heloise) before it became taboo.