Meanings of fanzines in the beginning of Punk in the GDR and FRG (original) (raw)
Related papers
Fanzines’ Network and the Punk Scene in Greece (1980–2015)
2019
This chapter examines the emergence and development of the fanzines network in Greece, its strong relationship with the local punk scene, and the crucial socio-political dimensions of both these fields. While political pamphlets and underground publications played an important part in the anti-dictatorship struggles (1967–1974) and during the first years of the post-dictatorship era, this project focuses on the ‘blooming’ period (1980–2015) of the specific fields with which this chapter deals. The core hypothesis is that the parallel empirical research of these fields may lead to fruitful conclusions about the connections and the limits between do-it-yourself (DIY) publications and urban subcultures in general, and that such a subcultural investigation may result in interesting qualitative findings regarding the socio-historical aspects of this intense period.
Punk fanzines in Portugal (1978-2013): a mapping exercise
KISMIF Conference 2015 | Book of Proceedings, 2016
With the emergence of punk in the UK and USA, in the 1970s, the production, distribution and consumption of fanzines became relevant, as an area of freedom of thought and creativity, and as an alternative to conventional media. Since then the fanzines scene clearly expanded, at different levels. In this paper we discuss preliminary results of an ongoing research on the emergence, development and transformation of punk movement in Portugal, from 1978 until nowadays, in which the fanzines and, more recently, e-zines are interesting examples. Looking at a broad set of Portuguese punk fanzines and e-zines, produced over the past decades, we’ll try to analyse major trends and changes in their graphic and editorial contents and also understand their relevance inside the punk ‘scenes’. Finally, we’ll discuss the convergences that, despite the existing diversity, allow us to speak of a do-it-yourself ethic associated this kind of cultural objects.
Spreading the message! Fanzines and the punk scene in Portugal1
Punk & Post Punk, 2014
Even though the production of fanzines precedes the emergence of punk, the truth is that it was with punk that the fanzines become relevant as a space for freedom of thought and creation, as well as an alternative to the conventional media. Since the 1970s, the fanzines' universe has expanded thematically and stylistically, and also in its territorial coverage and in the communicational supports used. In this article we adopt an approach that goes beyond the Anglo-Saxon reality and intend to look at fanzines as 'communities' founded around a cultural object, which have produced texts, photos and other materials regarding the Portuguese punk scene from the late 1970s until now. From a large set of fanzines we will analyse the ways of production, design and typography, the main themes, distribution channels, bands, the scenes and lifestyles covered in them. In this study, we consider fanzines to be an alternative media that, from late modernity, is able to reveal the punk movement and the DIY ethos associated with it. We seek to understand fanzines' relevance to the Portuguese punk scene context, both past and present, and we also identify some patterns of evolution and change.
Spreading the message! Fanzines and the punk scene in Portugal
Even though the production of fanzines precedes the emergence of punk, the truth is that it was with punk that the fanzines become relevant as a space for freedom of thought and creation, as well as an alternative to the conventional media. Since the 1970s, the fanzines’ universe has expanded thematically and stylistically, and also in its territorial coverage and in the communicational supports used. In this article we adopt an approach that goes beyond the Anglo-Saxon reality and intend to look at fanzines as ‘communities’ founded around a cultural object, which have produced texts, photos and other materials regarding the Portuguese punk scene from the late 1970s until now. From a large set of fanzines we will analyse the ways of production, design and typography, the main themes, distribution channels, bands, the scenes and lifestyles covered in them. In this study, we consider fanzines to be an alternative media that, from late modernity, is able to reveal the punk movement and the DIY ethos associated with it. We seek to understand fanzines’ relevance to the Portuguese punk scene context, both past and present, and we also identify some patterns of evolution and change.
In this chapter we explore the development of punk fanzines from the late 1970s to the present, exploring the role of these music fan-produced publications in giving meaning to the experience of a music community. This discussion of the punk fanzine’s longitudinal existence allows us to investigate the variety of ways that the fanzines and webzines make sense of punk as music, a set of political ideas and as a subcultural scene. In particular we want to trace the way that fanzines have operated as a medium of communication for punk fans and activists, as part of the visual bricolage of punk’s semiosis, and as a sign of authenticity amongst online punk culture in the twenty-first century. We argue that fanzines became one of punk’s many ‘symbols of defiance’, not just in the way that they visually and verbally represented punk’s DIY ethos and activism, but also in the way they embodied the labour of ‘fan-eds’ as organic intellectuals undertaking ideological work in which discourses of defiance and opposition are constructed, signified and reinforced. While other studies have often pointed to the importance of the communicative or symbolic functions of fanzines, and the role of editor/activists is occasionally alluded to, there has been too little emphasis on the way that the ‘zine authors take on leadership roles. Additionally, we are interested in the way that fanzines, and the symbolic value of the fanzine, have changed over time. We start with a discussion about the way that punk ‘zines have been understood in broader analyses of punk culture in the last forty years. However, we also want to focus on two particular instances of the punk ‘zine; two moments in which the specific meanings of specific fanzines can be explored in a little greater detail than those offered in the grander narratives of the punk fanzine. In the first moment, a case study of one early 1980s anarcho-punk fanzine we examine the way that such publications operated at the intersection of political activism and DIY music criticism, constructing idealised notions of music, politics and community against which the actual activity within local punk scenes were judged. Anarcho-punk, as a sub-genre and a scene, provides a particularly useful way to think through the role of fanzines because it has a pivotal place within punk politics and music culture. Self-proclaiming themselves as the true and original voice of punk, a range of artists allied themselves to more self-consciously political positions associated with different strands of anarchist thought, and pursued a DIY music ethos and a commitment to different forms of direct action . We suggest that through the 1980s anarcho punk fanzines established a sort of evolving ‘guide’ or manifesto to the cultural and political ideologies that were emerging within the developing British-anarcho punk subcultural scene. It is likely that, for many, those fanzines ordered the way in which as readers (or even contributors) moved from an enthusiasm for punk as a music to a more politically and ideologically motivated participation, inspired and informed by the lyrical content of punk records. Triggs, for instance, see this as inevitable . The second moment that we examine is thirty years later when the idea of the punk ‘zine is used in websites with a focus on punk from the 70s or 80s, or music or artists that continue its ethos and/or sound. Given the strong emphasis within literature on the internet, its potential as a democratic space, and the role of web sites and blogs as exemplars of DIY communications culture, it would be easy to assume that the practices and associations of the printed fanzine have more recently simply migrated online. By evaluating the continuities and discontinuities between the two moments of fanzine production, and the degree to which they articulate the ideology and identities of anarcho-punks, we argue that more often it is the symbolism and visual rhetoric of earlier print fanzines that predominates. While many internet advocates saw the early world-wide-web as a space for the sort of decentred political and cultural activism that had characterised 1980s anarcho-punk, there is little evidence that online fanzines continue to organise and order an engaged music culture. In what follows, then, we move through three key areas of analysis. Firstly, we interrogate some of the key studies of punk fanzines in order to try and contextualise their role and importance within punk music culture, especially in the late 1970s. Secondly, we focus on one example of a British regional anarcho-punk fanzine and the way that it constructed anarcho-punk as a music, politics and most importantly a community and movement. Specifically we seek to understand how the ‘zine author produced a publication, a sense of regional activity and a discourse of anarcho-punk authenticity. Finally, we look to more recent online uses of the idea of a punk webzine, and evaluate the degree to which the visual, verbal and editorial practices of earlier print fanzines are reproduced in internet publishing. This raises interesting questions about the globalization and commodification of the ideas and symbols of punk that were originally made in British regional culture.
Cold Press: Early Punk Fanzines in Canada’s Capital
Volume !
This paper combines a personal memoir with an historical and critical approach to punk fanzines produced in Ottawa, Canada between 1978 and 1985. Chronicles growth and offshoots of the "scene" in terms of "outside" influences and musical developments, as well as in response to growing interest in social and political activism. The author speculates as to the cultural positionality of zines in general, and suggests a reading of the specificities of early Ottawa zines in terms of issues of national identity. Résumé : Cet article articule des souvenirs personnels à une approche historique et critique des fanzines punks realisés à Ottawa, Canada, entre 1978 et 1985. Il retrace ainsi la naissance et les ramifications de cette « scène » en isolant ses influences « extérieures » et ses développements musicaux, tout en la considérant comme la conséquence d'un intérêt grandissant pour le militantisme social et politique. L'auteur s'interroge sur le positionnement culturel des fanzines en général et ébauche une lecture des spécificités des premiers fanzines d'Ottawa sous l'angle des questions relatives à l'identité nationale.
In this article I discuss how punk has become an instrument manifesting disloyalty to the modern German state and an expression of one's German Democratic Republic (GDR) origin. I show how punk reflects the perception of an East/West polarization and the popular understanding that Germans of GDR origin are second-rate citizens. Thus, although couched in the anti-state rhetoric of a punk ideology, the behaviour of East German punks, I suggest, reflects attitudes shaped by the experience of the post-socialist transformation, economic restructuring and increasing unemployment. My research demonstrates that the development of youth culture should be viewed within a larger context of general socio-economic processes. According to the theories of CCCS, subcultures are rooted in their parent culture and share the same experiences and social contradictions. Research in East Germany helps to broaden this approach and indicates that youth culture under certain circumstances can also share and reflect the ideologies and norms of a parent culture.