people at the back of the race to high status refuse to
be defeated and instead question that there is no al-
ternative to the race. They build the alternative them-
selves, even if they were long considered undera-
chievers or counted out.
Ultimately it is a mistake to analyse the zine culture
to find secret meanings, authentic representation, or
subversive content, because this still puts a focus on
finding the right message. This type of constructivist
reading often works on a semantic level, and is, to
much avail, looking for something “genuine” or
“honest” behind the signs. Instead, we have to accept
that the zines are already appropriated by corpora-
tions and advertising strategies – Nike, Diesel and
Urban Outfitters started long ago to make cool zines,
without revealing themselves as publishers, so the
medium itself has long ago lost the possibility of of-
fering a true channel to authenticity.
Sure, I’m disgusted by Nike’s looting of my beloved
zine culture, just as I shudder each time I hear “The
Revolution Will Not Be Televised” as an ad jingle.
But I also feel a curious sense of relief. The easy
expropriation of even the most rebellious culture
should open our eyes to the fact that pat notions
about the “politics of representation,” “cultures of
resistance,” and “authenticity” are hopelessly out-
dated. In our free-wheeling, postmodern playhouse
of a world: Image is Nothing. No, wait, that’s the ad
copy for a Sprite commercial. (Duncombe 1999)It is futile to try to see zines as an authentic expres-
sion in itself or romanticize the small-scale media.
The focus must be on the action space they open, the
possibilities they strive for, the voice and articulation
of skills they struggle for,
The underground’s search for authenticity is a failed
project. But without this futile struggle they would
give in to something far worse – the tyranny of the
here and now. Zines and the underground culture
from which they come are a lie that gives direction
and sustenance, solidarity and a sense of accom-
plishment. Against a world dragging you back, they
keep you moving forward. (Duncombe 1997b: 195)The zine culture shows that some things are possible,
that there are action spaces to be fought for, and that
we can build new paths to build community. You can
create a vector of your own, and that has meaning in
itself as it connects to others and leaves a trace on the
world, a mark of your skill and commitment. It is a
manifestation where even the “loser” is moving for-
ward and where slow and steady wins the race.
It is this aspect of zine culture that can help give an
understanding of how low level participation and
self-publishing can act as an emancipatory tool for
the people involved. Classic DIY empowering tech-
niques can be amplified and reach outside the origi-
nal community to communicate on a very personal
and communal level. The people with limited access
or interest in the high status game can themselves
expand their action spaces and transform them into
new personal explorations. These are just as valid as
the big successful and meritocratic ones, but on an-
other level and another frequency. Perhaps this is not
a very glamorous or adventurous life compared to
the great explorers of the frontiers, but the zine is, in
all its modesty, an everyday adventure where every-
day frontiers are challenged, be they the frontiers of
deep space, popular fiction, sexuality or fashion.
Fan fiction writers accessing new vectors are like
lock-pickers. They are urban explorers, unveiling
hidden areas within the common landscape, unseen
by most people. They “drop” their own narratives
into the structure of the big fiction or myth system.
Through their zines they build distributed base com-
munities of previously silent “losers”, challenging the
authors of the cathedrals, but working in symbiosis
with them. Like craftsmen they are anchored in the
world and they take pride in their work. They may be
“losers” or marginalized according to the values of
society, but through their zines they have a vehicle to
“boldly go where no man has ever gone before”.
As we have seen, the fan fiction writers need the big
cathedrals for their practice. Their own stories ben-
efit from the big energy processed within the big
narrative and it makes better sense for their small
plug-ins. Other fans, who are also connoisseurs of
the big fictions, will judge the fan fiction stories ac-
cording to how cleverly inserted they are into the
main story and how well their symbiotic relation is
fabricated from the opened loop holes. It is this mu-
tualistic relation that gives fan fiction its nerve.
The greatest possibility of zines is perhaps not the
empowerment of individual writers or creators of
the zines, but how they can form communities over
distance and become shared vectors where collective
potentials are actualized. I will discuss two examples
of these.