Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Edidin, Aron

Area of Concentration

Humanities

Abstract

The following thesis project examines the self-published media known as the zine, specifically publications by women and/or those containing feminist topics and themes. Part I of the project is a three-chapter thesis in which I discuss the material, narrative, and expressive practices of feminist zinesters. Chapter one discusses the form and aesthetic of the printed zine and considers the implications of this form for the zine's accessibility, as well as for the creative autonomy of its maker. Then, chapter two focuses more closely on zines from the margins, and how "third-space subjects" (Licona 2005, 104) develop alternative strategies for exploration, construction, and presentation of "borderlands identities" (Licona 2005, 105). Lastly, using these theories as framework, the third chapter contains close analysis of a selection of pieces by women of color in zines. Included in Part II is a zine which I organized and assembled with contributions from the extended New College community. Scandale seeks to confront cultural ideas surrounding the sexual choices and behavior of young women and gender non-conforming young adults, as well as to (re-)present our experiences in ways that confirm, challenge, and confound these ideas.

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