First Published in 2002. Modes and categories inherited from the past no longer seem to fit the reality experienced by a new generation. ‘New Accents’ is intended as a positive response to the initiative offered by such a situation. Each volume in the series will seek to encourage rather than resist the process of change, to stretch rather than reinforce the boundaries that currently define literature and its academic study. This selection of essays is an attempt to open up some of the as yet unsurveyed territory of English Studies and to introduce a new, more positive tone and greater range of voices to discussions of the future of the subject.