I'm going to go against the current here and say that is pretty absurd and just a different spin on the postmodern mentality that reigns supreme right now. About the best thing you can say is that no woman or minority would be given shit for only wanting to teach literature written by women or minorities. But that's not saying a whole lot. What this guy is saying is that he's a white middle-aged guy who can only relate to other white middle-aged guys.
The whole point of art and literature is to reach outside of your own life and experience and learn something about how other people think and live. The whole " I can only teach what I love" sounds like a cop out. How many people can get away with saying something like that at their jobs? Imagine some dude working at Walmart saying, "Yeah, I'll stock the electronics aisles, because I love electronics, but don't expect me to work in hardware, because it's not my passion."
The problem with postmodernism and identity studies is that it can turn education I to an exercise in solipsism as opposed to an endeavor aimed at understanding the objective world outside of your own head. This guy is doing the exact same thing. If he's interested in a particular literary niche, fine. Do research on it and teach it, but the inability to teach anything else kind if makes him a shitty professor.
The whole point of art and literature is to reach outside of your own life and experience and learn something about how other people think and live. The whole " I can only teach what I love" sounds like a cop out. How many people can get away with saying something like that at their jobs? Imagine some dude working at Walmart saying, "Yeah, I'll stock the electronics aisles, because I love electronics, but don't expect me to work in hardware, because it's not my passion."
The problem with postmodernism and identity studies is that it can turn education I to an exercise in solipsism as opposed to an endeavor aimed at understanding the objective world outside of your own head. This guy is doing the exact same thing. If he's interested in a particular literary niche, fine. Do research on it and teach it, but the inability to teach anything else kind if makes him a shitty professor.