1The journal Commonwealth was started at the University of Toulouse in 1975 by our regretted colleague Victor Dupont. After the foundation in 1965 of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) under the initiative of Norman Jeffares from the University of Leeds, ‘Commonwealth literature’ began to emerge as a new speciality in a few European universities thanks to the foresight and enthusiasm of pioneers such as Anna Rutherford in Aarhus and Hena Maes-Jelinek in Liège. Commonwealth aimed to develop in France the kind of research which had begun to appear in The Journal of Commonwealth Literature and World Literature Written in English. Thanks to the close contacts established by many contributors to Commonwealth with ACLALS, the international dimension of the journal was already perceptible in these early issues.

2Side by side with Commonwealth, the French ‘Société d’Etude des Pays du Commonwealth’ (SEPC), with its founding president Maurice Pollet, had started to bring out Echos du Commonwealth which served as a newsletter for its members but also, from 1976 to 1983, dedicated special issues to works by Patrick White, Doris Lessing, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Margaret Laurence and Albert Wendt. Robert Mane, from the University of Pau, took over the editorship of Commonwealth from 1976 to 1982 and Michel Fabre, from the University Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle, who had become by that time President of the SEPC, coordinated issue V dedicated to ‘Images of Africa in the New World’.

3In 1983, Jean Bart, who was then director of the Editions Universitaires de Dijon (EUD), welcomed the idea of basing Commonwealth at what was then known as the Université de Dijon. Thanks to his support, we were able to amalgamate Echos du Commonwealth into the main title in order to improve the material quality of the journal. A welcome grant from the Commonwealth Foundation helped us to aim for an international readership, an initiative which implied that we progressively made English the language in which we published our essays. At that stage, Michel Fabre’s friendly advice proved decisive, only to be relayed later on by Jacqueline Bardolph, from the University of Nice, who succeeded him as chairperson of the SEPC in 1998. In 1995 to reflect the rising interest in cultural studies, the SEPC launched Cultures of the Commonwealth with Martine Piquet and Francine Tolron as editors. Jean-Pierre Durix succeeded Jacqueline Bardolph as chairperson of the SEPC after her premature death in 1999.

4Nothing would have been possible without the material and editorial assistance provided by Carole Froude-Durix or the dedication of Jacques Leclaire and Eric Tabuteau who, as treasurers of the SEPC, made sure that the members’ money was used in their best possible interest. Over the years, the totally voluntary work offered by the team in charge of the SEPC and the development of distribution worldwide enabled the journal to free itself from dependence on external funding and to become self-sufficient financially speaking.

5Perhaps Burgundy was destined to become a fertile ground to nourish postcolonial studies; long after meeting him for the first time Jean-Pierre Durix discovered that Victor Dupont was born, like himself, in Mâcon, in the heart of the wine country… Less anecdotal, the Université de Bourgogne library system decided as early as the 1970s to build what has now become one of the best European collections of primary and secondary material concerning postcolonial literature in English. This has contributed significantly to the development of research both in Dijon and in the wider scholarly community.

6Jean-Pierre Durix and Carole Froude-Durix are both retiring from the Université de Bourgogne in October 2005. The time had then come to find a new editor for the journal and a new president of the SEPC. At its last general assembly in Toulouse in May 2005, the SEPC unanimously chose Marta Dvorak from Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle to undertake these two responsibilities. Guillaume Cingal from the Université de Tours, the new treasurer of the SEPC, has also agreed to assist her with the journal.

7In this last issue prepared under their responsibility, Jean-Pierre Durix and Carole Froude-Durix wish to thank both Marta and Guillaume for agreeing to take over what has been a time-consuming but very rewarding task over these years. The long and friendly relationships between the old and the new team have greatly facilitated a smooth transition. No doubt, Marta Dvorak’s considerable scholarly reputation and enthusiasm will enable her to give a new impetus to Commonwealth. We hope she will find as much satisfaction as editor of the journal as we have had over the last twenty-two years.

8Our thanks are also due to the postcolonial specialists (a number of whom have since become friends) all over the world who trusted our journal enough to send us the best of their research. The increasing number of contributions from young colleagues is a sure indication of the health and vitality of postcolonial studies.