Local history zines as a visual tool of urban identity representation
EDN: SMHNLI
Abstract
Local history zines (self-published, primarily print-based publications focused on local history and culture) are a unique medium for the visual representation of local identity. They enable residents to research, document, and share materials about their city, contributing to the formation.
The central thesis of this article is that contemporary local history zines function as a hybrid method within visual anthropology, merging subjective experience with visual strategies to explore urban identity and selfhood in the city through highly personalized forms of creativity.
The article examines how zines operate as a visual medium that shapes citizens’ perceptions of urban space. Particular attention is given to the role of zines in fostering connections between residents and their urban surroundings, and in articulating microhistories and marginal narratives often absent from official urban accounts.
The methodological approach includes visual and textual analysis of zines, field observations, and interviews with their creators. The author analyzes how visual elements (illustrations, photographs, collages) interact with textual components (short essays, poems, personal stories) to convey urban experience and contribute to the construction of the city’s image.
About the Author
E. N. Kuziner
Higher School of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Evgenia Nikolaevna Kuziner
Saint Petersburg
References
1. Belyaeva, M. A. (2023). Art-zine in the space of cultural industries. Mir nauki. Sotsiologiia. Filologiia. Kul’turologiia, 14(1). Retrieved from https://sfk-mn.ru/PDF/26KLSK123.pdf (In Russian).
2. Chidgey, R. (2020). Zine culture. In K. Ross, I. Bachmann, V. Cardo, S. Moorti, M. Scarcelli (Eds.). The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119429128.iegmc052
3. Clark-Parsons, R. (2017). Feminist ephemera in a digital world: Theorizing zines as networked feminist practice. Communication, Culture & Critique, 10(4), 557–573. https://doi.org/10.1111/cccr.12172
4. Duncombe, S. (2008). Notes from underground: Zines and the politics of alternative culture. Bloomington, IN: Microcosm.
5. Ferris, M. A. (2001). Resisting mainstream media: Girls and the act of making zines. Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme, 21(1). Retrieved from https://cws.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cws/article/view/6906
6. Gehl, J. (2013). Cities for people. Washington, D.C.: Island press.
7. Green, K., Taormino, T. (1997). A Girl’s guide to taking over the world: Writings from the girl zine revolution. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.
8. Kempson, M. (2015). “I sometimes wonder whether I’m an outsider”: Negotiating belonging in zine subculture. Sociology, 49(6), 1081–1095.
9. Koroleva, E. V. (2022). The “zine” format and the modern city. In A. A. Pronin (Ed.). Cultural industries in the space of the open city: Proceedings of the VIII All-Russian (with international participation) scientific and practical conference of students, postgraduates and young scientists, 217–219. Ekaterinburg: Ekaterinburgskaia akademiia sovremennogo iskusstva. (In Russian).
10. Licona, A. C. (2012). Zines in third space: Radical cooperation and borderlands rhetoric. New York: Suny Press.
11. Lymn, J. (2014). Queering archives: The practices of zines. Sydney: University of Technology Sydney (Australia).
12. Lynch, K. (1984). Good city form. Cambridge: MIT press.
13. Piepmeier, A. (2009). Girl zines: Making media, doing feminism. New York: New York University Press.
14. Poletti, A. (2008). Where the popular meets the mundane: The use of lists in personal zines. Canadian Review of American Studies, 38(3), 333–349. https://doi.org/10.3138/cras.38.3.3
15. Savenko, E. N. (2012). Modern “samizdat”: Definition of the concept. Bibliosfera, 2012(5), 98–100. (In Russian).
Review
For citations:
Kuziner E.N. Local history zines as a visual tool of urban identity representation. Urban Folklore and Anthropology. 2025;7(3):96-122. (In Russ.) EDN: SMHNLI
Views:
1
Email this article 