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The author offers a brief history of zines and zine culture and describes several ways to bring zines into the ELA classroom to address NCTE/IRA and Common Core standards.
Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen assert that language-based pedagogy is not sufficient reading in our technology-driven society. We need to incorporate ways for students to read other signs and symbols and redefine what it means to be literate in a digital age. Still, there are many ways in which print-based texts can be used effectively in the classroom. The key is finding texts that engage and motivate students to become involved with the written word. Zines provide a way to motivate students. They are visually appealing, and they are easy to hold, manipulate, and access. They present short, attention-getting narratives, and they are written in language and vernacular most students understand and appreciate. Students can interact with zines and zine creators in personal ways, creating a sense of involvement and connection not found in traditional stories and texts. All the elements of zines and the zine culture make for engaging, multimodal literacy projects for both students and teachers.
So, What's a Zine?
Zines can best be described as independent, selfpublished works created for pleasure that earn little or no profit. They have print runs from a few to thousands, most averaging around 100-200. They are less formal and commercial than most magazines (their closest literary relative), and they are an immediate way to participate in the literary scene. Zines can be compiled by one person or a group of people. They can cover topics including personal experiences, music, politics, parenting, travel, comics, sewing, or anything else one chooses to write about. Zine scholar Stephen Duncombe lists 15 broad zine categories including Fanzines, Political zines, Personal zines (known as perzines), Health zines, Comix, and Literary zines (11-13). Zines may last for one issue or for a number of years, and zine creators are a variety of ages and come from varied backgrounds. The texts in zines use words, images, art, and other tools of production, creating usable multimodal literacy sites.
When Did Zines Start?
Some argue that when Martin Luther hammered his Ninety-Five Theses on the door at Castle Church in 1517, he created the...