Notes from Underground by Stephen Duncombe

These are all important queries that raised my eyebrows and had me pondering the broader effect of zines on our culture and society as large. Duncombe delves into this oxymoron and raises the questions: do zines make the difference it set out to do? Can they actually effect social change or rather implode in it’s underground world? He sites arguments for both, afterall he IS part of it himself. The anti-consumerist nature of DIY publishing is a rebellion in itself and yet has a major craving for connection at the same time. For example, originating in the sci-fi world, the zine was birthed as a means to connect with like minded people to share ideas about stories read in glossier magazines, and even to self publish their own. As a former self-publisher and now contributor, I never gave much thought to the history.

All subject remains timeless in effect and Duncombe espouses on each careful selection as it relates to the subject he is tackling. Originally published in 1997, it gives many references to the broad world of zines at the time and even dating back to the 1930s. 'Here is an extensive analysis and critique of the zine as a whole by a professor, activist, and zine maker himself. 'Duncombe retains his respect and even admiration for the utopian sentiments that animate the 'zine world, even as he unblinkingly diagnoses the contradictions and limitations of the political vision these publications offer.' -Weekly Wire Duncombe, a professor of American Studies and a zine-maker himself, locates zines within a wider bohemian tradition, and maps out both the potential and the limits of their cultural radicalism.' -The Atlantic 'A timely new critical study, Stephen Duncombe's Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture (1997), throws some light on the current state of zines and what's at stake.

Notes from Underground by Stephen Duncombe