Four Words : Préface à quatre...

Foreword Four Words : Préface À quatre... From PC Write to Word Perfect 5.1 : Volume 1 Annabelle M. Rea, Occidental College Editor Women In French Studies 1993 Those of us who gathered in New York on December 29, 1 992, for the first regularly-scheduled WIF Business Meeting — the previous year, once WIF had been officially adopted by the MLA, we had held an organizational meeting — made many decisions affecting the future of our association. None was more important than the one that led to the creation of Women in French Studies. As Habiba Deming's minutes ofthat meeting show, the journal was first conceived of as a way to publish papers from our MLA sessions . At our 1 993 meeting in Toronto, we tied the new position ofVice-Chair to the editorship ofthe journal, decided to create an Editorial Board to select essays for publication, as well as a Graduate Student Essay Prize, and discussed procedures for distribution, including library subscriptions. Colette Trout, elected as WIF's Vice-Chair in December of 1993, then became the Editor of Women In French Studies and will take the story from that point. As I reflect on the modest beginnings ofthejournal (the first issue, dated July 1993, contained all of sixty-five pages!), I realize how far we've come in ten years. Technologically, for example, 1 993 seems light years away. At that time, people were still sending articles that had to be retyped. I was making the transition from PC Write to Word Perfect 5.1 — the WIF Studies volume was my initiation to the new program. The first volume, despite its small size, required many hours in front of a computer screen — and a lot of help from my friends. The late Janis Glasgow coordinated the section on "Avant-garde Women Dramatists Writing in French," with essays by Rachel Criso, Nina Hellerstein, Celita Lamar, and Gay Smith. Contributors to my part ofthe volume, "Le Rire de la Méduse : la femme et l'humour," included Claudine Fisher, Lynn Penrod, and Monique Saigal. Ginette Adamson's paper on Paule Constant's White Spirit would have appeared with the others had Ginette been able to travel to New York. Many ofthese scholars continue their strong support ofWIF activities today. Volumes 2 et 3... Colette Trout Hall, Ursinus College Rédactrice, Women In French Studies 1994-1995 Quandj'ai eu l'honneur de devenir Vice-Présidente de Women In French avec le petit bonus de transformer Women In French Studies en une revue 1 0 Women in French Studies académique,je ne savais pas dans quelle « galère » — quoique sympathique — je m'embarquais. Heureusement,je fus secourue par un Comité de Rédaction, fort petit à l'époque, mais extraordinaire. Il s'agissait d'Adèle King, de MariePierre LeHir et de Mary Rice-DeFosse. Bien sûr, je n'avais pas la moindre idée de comment procéder, mais j'ai appris sur le tas avec l'aide de la liste du CELJ (Council ofEditors ofLearned Journals). Des questions sur les droits d'auteur-e-s, ou comment obtenir un numéro ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) m'ont tenu éveillée plusieurs nuits. Il est toujours exaltant de commencer quelque chose de tout nouveau. Annabelle a connu cela, de même que les collègues et amies dont je viens de citer les noms. Nous lisions toutes les quatre, toutes les soumissions ( 1 5 ou 20 la première année, émanant surtout de membres de l'association ayant participé à des sessions de conférence organisées par WIF) et une douzaine de Graduate essays. L'incroyable, c'est que nous étions presque toujours d'accord sur la qualité des articles à quelques détails près. J'avais instauré un système de notation... Treize articles ont été publiés dans ce deuxième volume. Le plus difficile, pour moi, était la mise en page, car la technologie n'est pas mon fort. Mais, avec l'aide d'étudiant-e-s, certain-e-s plus responsables que d'autres, ce fut accompli. J'ai quand même oublié deux années de suite de faire imprimer le titre...