Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture

The third edition of Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture by Stephen Duncombe was published in 2017. The author researches zines as an underground’s mouthpiece, as an opportunity for “losers” who do not fit in to speak up for themselves. According to Duncombe, zines serve as an identity constructor and help to find one’s place through joining a community of like-minded individuals. By deviating from conventional publishing practices, zinesters, following the DIY principle, prefer authenticity to professionalism, creativity to consumption, and the personal to the accepted and popular. Zines, while remaining in the realm of the pre-political, engage in complex relationships with…