“A primary way to define academic discourse is to see it as the languageof a community,” which “shapes participants’ way of looking at the world– their worldview – including notions of what’s real, normal, natural,good, and true.”

The staff of this first issue, “Notes from the Underground,” recognizesthe potential in creating a digital environment for graduate studentpublications that complicate the academic “worldview.” The World WideWeb plays a significant role in today’s digital culture in providingincreasing democratic access to information and perspective.

Carbon is our contribution to the growing body of electronic writings. “Notes from the Underground” is our starting point.

Issue 1: Notes From the Underground: Visions of the Other, Reflectionsof the Self

“I could only move ahead or stay here, underground. So I would stay
here until I was chased out. Here, at least, I could try to think
things out in peace, or, if not in peace, in quiet. I would take up
residence underground. The end was in the beginning.”
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

In the inaugural issue, “Notes from Underground,” we’re taking up
questions of authority, privilege, and power in discourse. The notionof the underground as a space to observe and be observed is quiteappropriate for a launching e-journal – a publication that seeks to reformulate typical notions of scholarship. Thus, we take our project underground in an attempt to recover the neglected, reconsider the standards, and rewrite the narratives. As our subtitle suggests, we’re especially interested in analyses that consider the Other while remaining aware of the Self. Possible writings might include, but are certainly not limited to the following subjects and persuasions:

Postcolonialism
Writing Centers
Feminism
Folklore
Composition
Gender Studies
Rhetoric
Marxism
Narrative
Queer Studies
Pedagogy
Psychoanalytic
Multimedia
Deconstruction
Literarature
(Sub)Culture

The editorial readership of “Notes” is an inclusive group encouraging
fresh perspectives and new voices from a variety of emphases within
English Studies. Submissions should include a brief abstract, the
complete text, and a bibliography. Deadline for submission is Monday, December 20, 2004. Please submit to carbonejournal@gmail.com on or before this date. Questions are welcome.