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Editors' Introduction
Issue #1 December 1996

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Go, song, surely thou mayest
Whither it please thee
For so art thou ornate that thy reasons
Shall be praised from thy understanders,
With others has thou no will to make company.
CANTO XXX Ezra Pound

Welcome to the first issue of [Im]positions, the electronic journal for and by graduate students at The George Washington University. [Im]positions is a refereed journal written, edited, and produced entirely by graduate students. We created [Im]positions to give GW graduate students an opportunity to publish works in progress. We hope that this journal will provide a forum for students to work out ideas that began in the classrooms where we are both teachers and students.

In this first issue, "Identity Politics," the editorial board selected essays that encourage readers to consider mediated identities and the contested locations and spaces in which they are situated. Our selections for this issue's publication range from an analysis of "Generation X" in American pop culture to a literary exploration of race and class on the twentieth century urban street. A variety of theoretical perspectives from a questioning of gender roles using Luce Irigaray's theories to a New Historical look at Dorothy Wordsworth's influence on her brother's writings also appears in this issue.

This publication of [Im]positions would not have been possible without the support of GW graduate students, especially the members of the GW English Graduate Student Association. We also would like to thank the members of our editorial board for all their hard work. Additional thanks go to the Chair of the GW English Department, Dr. Chris Sten, and the GW Graduate Student Advisor, Dr. Anne Romines, for their encouragement. Additional gratitude goes to Dr. Jeffrey Cohen and Dr. Gayle Wald for their advice.

Kathleen Iudicello and Noreen O'Connor, Issue Editors

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