D03Self-Formation and Categorical Concept Entrepreneurs in Zine Media

What is it about?
Our project starts with a specific layer of meaning, the medium of the zine, and investigates how processes of self-formation become observable here. “Zines,” short for “fanzines,” are small, DIY booklets produced and distributed in very limited runs, without large budgets or gatekeeping institutions.

What happens in zines?
In our project, we understand zines as laboratories of self-formation: Here, authors experiment with and reshape differences in diverse ways. Both self-chosen affiliations (e.g., as a fan in a fanzine) and categorical identities (e.g. in perzines, i.e., personal zines) are explored and represented experimentally.

Zines and human differentiation
From the perspective of human differentiation, zines present a fascinating empirical case: They constitute a semi-public space where highly personal engagements with self-understandings and external categories unfold. This occurs through various modes – text, image, and format. Zines are handmade, often bricolaged, and contemporary zines are frequently surrounded by digital paratexts. Within this environment, human differentiation unfolds self-directed, “from below” and “against the grain.”

Since its first phase, the project has been building a collection of independent magazines and zines. The catalogue can be accessed here.