Zine. Bagazine #4, 2010. (Courtesy of Geof Huth)n.ZEENa limited-run and usually inexpensively produced serial or standalone publication produced by a single individual or a small cooperative and distributed through the mails, often in exchange for other such publicationsBartel 2004, 1Zines (pronounced “zeen,” like “bean,” rather than “line”) are basically small self-published magazines that are usually (though not always) written by one person and distributed thought an intricate network of individuals and collectives. The only thing that all zines have in common is that their existence is the result of passion rather than a desire for profit.Brett and Jones 2013, 68–69His research and professional interests include zines and zine culture, science fiction, and archives as sources and tools of social justice and change.Corvid 2013, 393During the 1980s and 1990s, the widespread accessibility of photocopiers in America produced a flowering of the self-publishing format, zines. Many groups outside of mainstream corporate markets utilized the format to communicate, organize, express themselves, and create art.Wakimoto, Hansen, and Bruce 2013, 454, fn. 30A ’zine, originally a shortened form of fanzine, is a noncommercial magazine devoted to specialized subjects and usually created by an individual or small group of people.Woodbrook and Lazzaro 2013, 3Typically, zines take the form of quarter- or half-sheet booklets that are photocopied, letterpress-printed or silk-screened and bound by stapling, sewing, gluing, or simply folding pages together. Zines are distributed through informal networks of friends, collectives, bookstores, record stores, music venues, or the mail for the purpose of self-expression, group-expression, or the expression or documentation of a social movement. Zines are, emphatically, not produced for profit. Zines are often unedited; they are sometimes one-off and sometimes serials. They are often written by a single author, but are sometimes collaborative efforts.Daniels et al. 2015, 255The types of materials that ASC has received as part of the LUMA project are limited to more “public” materials. That is, the bulk of the collections received to date consist of fliers, posters, recordings, and ’zines/fanzines. LUMA has received a limited amount of correspondence (and the bulk of this has come from the estate of a central, but deceased, community member), and surprisingly few photographs.
Notes
Although “zine” was in use at least by the 1960s as a synonymous shortened form of “fanzine,” the term took on a more general meaning by the 1980s. At this point, zines were usually photocopied and they were not necessarily defined by a fannish focus. Instead, zines covered the range of human experience and focused more on the creation of and dissemination of original literature, art, reporting, and political thought. By the 1990s, much zinelike activity moved to the Web, leading to the creation of e-zines and blogzines. Such electronic publications still exist, but their creators less and less conceive of these as zines.
Zine. Bagazine #4, 2010. (Courtesy of Geof Huth)
n.ZEEN
a limited-run and usually inexpensively produced serial or standalone publication produced by a single individual or a small cooperative and distributed through the mails, often in exchange for other such publications