Fanzines, resistance and feminism: an alternative story told by portuguese fanzines meets alternative history

Abstract

The first fanzines, 'home-made objects' - produced individually or collectively, and with a limited circulation - against alternative stories, appeared in the 1920s-30s and were associated with science fiction fans; later, during the 1950s-60s, band and music fanzines became increasingly popular. However, the production, distribution and consumption of fanzines gained global relevance with the emergence of the punk phenomenon in the UK and the US during the 1970-80s, assuming itself as an area of freedom of thought and do-it-yourself (DIY) creation, and as an alternative to conventional media. In this article, we address and analyze Portuguese feminist fanzines as invisible storytellers of women in contemporaneity, namely in the denunciation of male and patriarchal dynamics of symbolic domination, i.e, as a form of alternative history. Through that analysis we are able to identify key aspects and moments where this invisibility could have been addressed and the attitude of the status quo regarding these fanzines could have become positive. This identification provides the data for an analytical construction of an Alternative Chronology regarding the Portuguese feminist fanzine path, and through such lenses more insight regarding past and present prejudice against de DIY artistry is achieved.