THIRD THURSDAY LECTURE - SAINSBURY INSTITUTE

Speaker: Helen McCarthy

(independent scholar and author)

About the Talk

In the days before broadband, fanzines and fanzine culture were a vital part of British cultural experiences from football to punk music. The emerging anime subculture was no different. Starting with a one-shot zine, moving on to articles and imagery in gaming and modelling fanzines, and gradually gaining traction as professional anime and manga magazines began to appear, fanzines formed a vital part of communication between fans. They were supplemented and supported by fan club newsletters. This revolution was most definitely not televised; instead, it was painstakingly typed, illustrated, pasted up, photocopied and sent through the post to a small but passionate number of eager readers.

Most of that culture has not been preserved or archived in any formal sense. Any surviving physical incarnations are mouldering away in boxes in attics and garages. But its other incarnations, the passion and energy of the fans who created those fragile pages, still live on. Those fans have gone on to become writers, artists, designers, academics, business owners, parents, filling many niches in 21st century life with the punk energy of fanzine creation. Helen McCarthy gives a brief outline of the genesis, history and demise of the British anime fanzine, a suitable case for further exploration.

Online lecture, via Zoom.
50 min lecture followed by Q&A.
Free and open to all, booking essential.
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