BOOK REVIEW/Heather Seggel

Notes from the Photocopier, Resistance in the Days Before the Internet

In Notes From Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture by Stephen Duncombe (Microcosm Publishing. 245 pp., $19.95), it’s telling to read the chapter titled “Purity and Danger,” especially the subsection that uses the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana to open a discussion about whether ’zine publishers are “opening up or selling out.”

For starters, you’re very quickly aware that this book is a 20th anniversary edition, and maybe struck dumb by the realization so much time has passed. Additionally, such arguments feel quaint, coming as they did from a time when the internet was a fun and fascinating toy; had someone suggested then that we’d be waking up with nerves on edge from a president addicted to something called “tweeting,” well, it would have sounded like a deranged theory put forth in a zine. That said, this look back is fascinating and has much to say about today’s resistance movement.

Originating in the 1950s in celebration of and response to science fiction, “fanzines” became a way for marginalized voices to hijack a little piece of the media landscape and plant their freak flags. The punk scene of the 1970s called out for its own unique slant on a movement designed to oppose virtually everything it came in contact with; despite all the substance abuse its chroniclers indulged in, they put out some terrific music journalism.

In the 1990s the Riot Grrrl movement pushed “girls to the front” at punk shows and also encouraged them to write and publish their thoughts and experiences to share with others; at the same time the press was trying to pin down exactly what these girls were screaming about, they were also hamstrung by questions about the “quirky” photocopied booklets everyone was so excited over, and zines had a bit of a heyday.

Author Stephen Duncombe relates this history with quick wit, and his admiration for the world of zines and their makers (he was a self-publisher in the scene, as was I) doesn’t soften his critique. Many zinesters bragged about their commitment to slacking off, stealing from or sabotaging employers, and willfully mooching as much as possible in the interest of sticking it to the man. This, of course, requires that The Man stay as powerful as he is lest those moochers be cut off from their free supply of sticky notes or access to photocopiers. The militant opposition or passive ironic tone of many zines did a great job of pointing out obvious problems, but rarely sustained enough momentum to suggest solutions.

It was often the personal stories in zines that shifted readers’ thinking. David Greenberger started his zine Duplex Planet to capture the odd ruminations of the residents of a retirement community where he worked as activities director. Many of their comments were unintentionally funny rants, but Greenberger presented them without comment, giving a group of senior citizens a wide and engaged audience of readers who came to feel close to them. Aaron Cometbus has taken readers around the country and the world with him on adventures he meticulously hand-letters. Read an issue of Cometbus and there’s not a trace of ironic detachment to be found; you feel like you’re riding in Aaron’s backpack, and glad to be there.

People still make zines today, though blogs took up a lot of their market share. They are still useful talismans for connection, especially for readers who feel like they occupy a hole for which there is no peg. But therein lies their allure, as well as their danger. Duncombe writes that the paradox of collective individuality inherent in the zine world “has long been the dream of anarchism,  parallels the hopes of multiculturalism, resonates with the virtual community of the Internet, and describes the ideal of the place that is bohemia.” (58)

Each of us singing our own song together is a beautiful dream, but it’s no guarantee that we add up to a meaningful force for change. Shouting, “What do we want?” and getting back answers that include, “To ruminate about that device they use to measure your feet in shoe stores!,” “To talk about about 1970s TV shows!,” and “To show you this picture of me having sex with a turkey carcass!” (all examples cited in the book) would discourage the most valiant optimist.

Nevertheless, zines have their place on the spectrum of political discourse. They’re messy and alienating and welcoming all at once, and as we wait to hear about the future of net neutrality, the potential for a move back to the photocopier has never seemed more inviting. Notes From Underground offers a deep dive into the history of zines; it also suggests ways their future might be leveraged for more political impact.

Heather Seggel is a writer based in Mendocino County, Calif., but sadly not the pretty coastal part. Email heatherlseggel@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 1, 2018

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