Abstract
Continuing the interest in youth counterpublics begun in Chap. 5, this chapter examines how zines and zine culture have become an important site for young people to discuss their experiences of suicidal ideation and suicide. Drawing on feminist and queer literary theory, we position zines about suicide as a largely autonomous textual space where young people can openly discuss their experiences of suicide and bereavement. We argue that the combination of the labour of self-publishing a text with life writing discourse make these zines a unique textual environment in which young people can narrate the challenges associated with building a life they want to live.
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Notes
- 1.
As this book was going to press, the We Make Zines ning was in the process of moving to a new host after the service provider increased the charges for groups using the service.
- 2.
A “ning” is a social networking platform designed to allow people to create and monetise networks. Originally a free service, ning is now a subscription-based operation. When the We Make Zines ning began, the service was free and it has been successfully maintained by donations. Other examples of websites that extend zine culture to the online domain and in so doing create the social entity to which zine texts can be addressed are the Zine Wiki (zinewiki.com), and Chip Rowe’s website which accompanies his book The Book of Zines (www.zinebook.com).
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Douglas, K., Poletti, A. (2016). Zine Culture: A Youth Intimate Public. In: Life Narratives and Youth Culture. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55117-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55117-7_7
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