Concentric: Between Times

Looking back upon the history of Concentric on its thirtieth anniversary, we find that this journal is both young and old. For in the past thirty years it has changed its name four times, and with each “renaming”—the French verb renommer can be interpreted to mean the repetition of the act of naming—something new was added to it, now elements injected into the old form. Always keeping in mind (or hoping for, anticipating anew) the renom, renown or fame of the journal, the editors have worked hard to keep rejuvenating its form and content. With passing years the cover design technique, overall layout, and webpage design have continued to develop and improve; the criteria for the acceptance of journal submissions have become stricter; the number of possible readers (that is, places to which the journal is sent) keeps growing; and an ever wider range of prestigious scholars is being invited to read and comment on the journal as well as contribute to it. After each renaming, then, another life rises like a phoenix from the ashes, a life other than itself. Perhaps “[w]hen a name comes, it immediately says more than the name: the other of the name and quite simply the other, whose irruption the name announces” (Derrida, On the Name 89). This is also why I consider it essential to review the history of the journal’s name change1 on its thirtieth anniversary.