Editorial

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Issue 4.1 marks a transition for Xchanges, which is now celebrating its fourth year of publication. Julianne Newmark, who edited the journal for the first three years, recently defended her dissertation and has been awarded the degree of PhD in English. Subsequently, the editorship passed on to me, having served as technical editor since the journal's inception. Building Xchanges into an internationally known, MLA-recognized publication has been an exciting undertaking for us. Many thanks, Julie - for three great years with Xchanges!

During this transition, there have been a few notable happenings. First, issue 3.2, which originally had been set for 2003 publication, was joined by the conference proceedings to form this extended special issue. Lan Dong, a PhD candidate in comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graciously accepted our invitation to have her essay "Diverse identities in Interracial Relationships: A Multiethnic Interpretation of Mississippi Masala and The Wedding Banquet," published here in issue 4.1. In this work, Dong addresses questions pertaining to multiculturalism, "polyglot identities," and the manifestations of interracial love as presented in two recent films.

This essay nicely compliments the other five selections in this issue, all of which were submitted as conference proceedings from the 2004 Y|X American Studies Conference, held on Friday, March 26 at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. The conference theme, "American Stories and the Commerce of National Identity," was addressed in many inventive ways by the scholars who participated in the conference, and these five writers in particular were inspired to offer complex and interesting analyses from their own unique perspectives. Addressed most notably were questions such as: "What constitutes national identity?" "Who and what is American, and why?" "What are the interrelations and disconnections between identity and a consumer culture?"

Kathryn Dowgiewicz, in her piece entitled "Small Towns and Rural Communities: Patriotism's Progress," explores these questions through an examination of the small town's fate in 20th century America. In "Arab Stereotypes in American Cinema: An Examination of Hollywood's Racial Injustice in 'Rules of Engagement,'" Kim Glidden considers the cinematic figure of the "violent Arab" and film's potent to influence public opinion, and as an extension, beliefs about national and personal identity. Graduate scholar Victoria Henderson discusses Bjork's public performances and unique fashion choices as acts of resistance against commodity fetish, in the essay"Producing Difficulty, or How to Really Lay an Egg." The innovatively creative approach of "Monologue: Explaining the American Dream to an Albanian Mother" reveals Renis Nushaj's theories about national identity, and among ideas regarding personal freedom, family obligations, and the concept of the American dream. Finally, Michael Stauch takes on the popular power of WWE Wrestling in "Speaking In Images: The Increasing Subtlety of Manipulation in Wrestlemania XX." Together, these essays offer a diverse and complex examination of the theme "American Stories and the Commerce of National Identity."

The Xchanges journal and the annual conference are made possible through the support of Wayne State University American Studies Program and the Rushton Endowment, an endowment devoted to the exchange of ideas between undergraduate students throughout the university and within the American Studies Program with the goal of spreading the benefits of an interdisciplinary education.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Xchanges. Xchanges' annual Winter issue is comprised of essays submitted by American and international graduate student scholars in response to an open Call for Papers on a pre-selected theme. The essays are peer-reviewed and are held to a very high standard. The Winter issues of Xchanges serve as a forum for forward thinking American Studies scholarship and the essays often reconfigure the parameters of the discipline itself. Please look for the Winter journal issue in March 2005, and we will announce the theme on this site as well. Thank you for supporting the Y|X Conference and Xchanges.