Zine culture has massive potential in regards to underground politics, it is unfortunate that most people have not even heard of them. Coming from a small town, I'm sure that most people who I went to school with (or were taught by) would have trouble seeing the possibility of a revolutionary moment in zine culture, but then again most of them think that something happened to homosexuals at a young age to 'make them that way' and that Ralph Klein and George Bush are the kind of fellows we should be thankful are in charge (Oh lordisa, that is some scary ass shit). Ok, so obviously I have some unharboured bitterness towards my town that has nothing to do with the theory in this course, but that i feel the need to share anyway. I enjoy the fact that in zine culture, everyone can be a writer/expert as Benjamin states. It is unfortunate that zines could be seen as a hipster fad taken up by emo kids who need yet another outlet for their angsty poetry about their white middle class oppression (ex: you weren't there dad. you fucker. i had to walk three blocks home from band practice carrying my $700 guitar. its heavy. and my ipod ran out of batteries on the way. woe is me. no one sees just how deep i am. and that hurts.). I believe that this usage of zine culture takes away from the politics of the movement, resulting in an all around disrespect of all zines in general. The personal has the capacity to make the most political impact, for if someone relates to what you are saying they are more likely to act. However, it is complicated to ensure that politics remain entwined in the personal and does not become self indulgent and irrelavent to wider 'society'. Nevertheless, beings political moments are provisional and constantly in the process of being resignified, the politicization of art has far reaching albiet momentary effects in zine culture.
For me the most difficult aspect of the zine assignment is bridging the gap between theory and practice, or academics and the mainstream even in regards to the content. Are we supposed to only assume our audience is the 30 people in our class, or aim for them to have further reaching effects?
2 comments:
I don’t completely agree with your assessment of emo-kids mucking up zines. Could we borrow ‘empowering nihilism’ in our assessment of personal zines? If the personal really is the political, I think we can look at developing empathy as intimately personal. On an individual level the emo-kids might more easily develop empathy through their self-indulgence. How can we expect anyone to give a shit about other people if they feel like no one cares about their hardships? I certainly agree that some complaints are extremely superficial, but life sucks for everybody at some point, and recognizing your own shit is the first step to becoming empathetic. Complaining about your own life can be an empowering experience, especially if others can share your sensibilities. Also, I think this gives the emo-kids an opportunity to consume someone else’s complaints, and consequently, are more likely to find it easier to walk in their shoes.
I thought I'd make a pussy joke, but that wouldn't really fit, would it?
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