Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:PrefaceJoan Ramon ResinaAt a time when critical practices are moving beyond poststructuralism into an area that only with considerable effrontery could be labeled by means of another post-, diacritics enters a new phase without forsaking its commitment to the best and most daring contemporary criticism. The journal aims to reinvigorate itself by reaffirming its origin in Romance Studies and recapturing its balance between an ample zone of relative cultural identity and the various (and multiplying) specificities that turn the mirage of identity into a criss-crossing of relations. The purpose is not to look back to a traditional discipline but forward to emerging areas of intellectual endeavor that are changing the long-established balance of critical interests both inside and outside the discipline. With this object in mind, diacritics will devote attention to critical and theoretical issues relating to the Romance cultures of America, including Francophone Canada, Brazil, the Spanish-speaking countries, and US Latino culture. Concurrently, it will widen its long-established interest in French cultural studies and theory to include the many cultures of the Mediterranean basin. The space of these cultures, which once constituted the West’s cultural, economic, and political horizon, is now reemerging as a crucial axis and the place of articulation between a reconfigurating Europe, a fast-changing Africa, and a critical Near East. Thus diacritics intends to maintain its strong metacritical tradition while enhancing the scope of cultural issues in keeping with its proven combination of theoretical rigor, cultural focus, and wide-angled concerns.Copyright © 1999 The Johns Hopkins University Press...