Between vulnerability and categorisation: Locating zines in institutions and as forms of alternative media identity

Emerging from conversations at two symposiums, ‘Zines Revisited’ (2022) and ‘Selfing and Shelving’ (2024), held at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, this special issue reflects on the tension between zines’ alternative media identities and their increasing institutionalisation, represented by the growing number of institutions, including public and university libraries, building their zine archives. In the introduction, the editors propose the concepts of ‘selfing’ and ‘shelving’, which capture these seemingly opposing processes and underpin the special issue. While ‘selfing’ hints at how the individual or collective self is constructed or ‘manufactured’ through writing and publishing zines, ‘shelving’ represents the practical and theoretical challenges of zine archiving, both to document cultural practice and to preserve these vulnerable or resistant voices into the future. The contributions in this special issue trace how zines enable modes of selfing in relation to disability or antiwar zinetivism, and present practical reflections on the challenges of running a zine archive within the university and more. The special issue contributes to a continuing dialogue among scholars, archivists, and practitioners.