TEFL and the Teaching Profession in Barry Unsworth’s the Greeks Have a Word for It

Authors:

Pages: 195-202
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/FMWN1761

Abstract:

This article outlines how teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and the teaching profession are depicted in The Greeks Have A Word For It (1967), a comic novel by the late British Booker Prize-winning author Barry Unsworth. Focusing on the character of Kennedy, an unscrupulous Englishman who arrives penniless in Athens and attempts to find work teaching English, this study firstly outlines the novel’s unflattering portrayal of the type of people who seem to be active as English teachers in 1960s Athens. It then moves into exploring how some of the commercial realities of TEFL are presented in the work, before concluding with a character study comparing aspects of the roguish Kennedy with Jennings, the director of the official cultural institute, noting several common traits shared by both men.

Keywords:

Barry Unsworth, fictional depictions of teaching English abroad, portrayals of teachers in fiction, professions in literature, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, The Greeks Have A Word For It

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