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Glossary of terms used in 'zines
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN 'ZINES
These terms are used in, or are useful in talking about, fanzines. Some
of the definitions are idiosyncratic, but in most cases I have tried to
tease out the consensus usage among the various zines I get. If you run
across obscure terms that you think belong here, I'd like to know about
them.
Alternative Press: I think of this as sort of the "grown-up" underground
press. The alternative press is often leftist, often concerned with building
a better world, and usually deadly serious. WHOLE EARTH, the Boston PHOENIX,
and MOTHER JONES are the sorts of things that fall in this classification. I
don't deal with the alternative press too often.
Anarchist: One who believes that we would all be better off without
government. Most anarchists know what the ideal true anarchist society would
look like in detail. They all disagree about it. That's why the anarchists
spend more time badmouthing each other than smashing the state.
Anti-Authoritarian: Opposed to authority of one sort or another to one
degree or another. A looser and thus even more meaningless term than
"anarchist". There is a general perception in the underground press that the
anti-authoritarians are the good guys, even when they are (as frequently
occurs) on opposite sides of the question.
APA: Amateur Press Association. A magazine jointly written by the
subscribers. Generally each subscriber (or "member") is responsible for
printing his own pages and mailing them to a central point, whence he gets
copies of everyone else's pages. Each member pays his own printing and
postage expenses, for the reward of participating in numerous conversations
at the same time, something like a cocktail party in print. Some apas are
general, with no purpose other than to have fun, while others deal with a
specific subject like sex or Tarot cards.
BTTL: An acronym for "Back to the land", used by those who dream about
doing so. BTTLers are usually interested in self-sufficiency and living
lightly -- you can go BTTL in the suburbs, or even in an apartment, if you
wish, although most practitioners want something closer to 40 acres and a
mule.
Chapbook: A pamphlet of poetry or prose from a small publisher.
Typically chapbooks are produced with loving care, available in small
quantities, and either overpriced or unprofitable.
Church of the SubGenius: A manic faith based on the teachings of the
late J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, super-salesman, and dedicated to helping people
reclaim the Slack that has been stolen from them. This bogus religion has
caught on so well in certain sectors that the founders are always far, far
behind on answering their mail and otherwise publishing, but when they do,
it's worth the wait. More details for $1 from PO Box 140306, Dallas, TX
75214.
Constitutionalist: People generally of a conservative bent who feel that
the government in this country is trampling wholesale over individual rights
by ignoring the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Major areas of
concern often include the IRS, monetary reform schemes, and novel strategies
for legal defense. Some Constitutionalists branch out into areas like Tesla
weaponry or anti-fluoridation. If you go far enough out to the fringes of
the Constitutionalist movement, you'll come to white supremicists and other
unsavory types, but the folks at the heart of the movement are OK.
Cyberpunk: A relatively new genre of science fiction which involves
taking a sort of Highly Realistic And Gritty look at the trends of today and
predicting a future of drug-soaked and heavily implanted computer programmer
punk-rock proletarians as the background for your space opera.
Discordian: A believer in the idea that God is a crazy woman. As
evidence the Discordian points to all the chaos in the world. May be a
religion disguised as a joke or vice versa. See Robert Shea & Robert Anton
Wilson's ILLUMINATUS! trilogy for more details. Also called Erisians.
Disty: Short for "distribution", this refers to a single copy of an apa
after all the zines have been stapled together [see APA]. Technically, only
apas which are passed out directly to the participants have distys; those
sent via the post office have mailings instead.
Dungeons & Dragons: More usually known as just D&D, this is a game
played with pencil and paper, in which one player (the Gamesmaster, or GM)
tells a story in which the others participate, often in a Tolkienesque
fantasy universe. As far as I know, there is no truth to the various rumors
linking D&D with suicides or satanic cults. I got my start int he
underground writing for D&D zines.
Erisian: See Discordian.
FACTSHEET FIVE: Title of a short story by John Brunner. Actually the
story is "Factsheet Six", and it originally appeared in GALAXY magazine in
1968. It's reprinted as part of Brunner's collection FROM THIS DAY FORWARD
(Doubleday, 1972). The FACTSHEET in the story is a sort of psychic consumer
magazine whose publisher is ultimately killed by a person who he has
negatively reviewed -- something which seems closer to what I'm doing all
the time.
Fan: Normally short for "science fiction fan". Fen are people who like
to hang around with people who like to hang around with people...who read
SF. Many are active in publishing something. Many remain aloof from the rest
of the small press world and dream of writing professionally some day. Those
who don't write (and most of those who do) are fen primarily to give them an
excuse to party.
Fanzine: Anything published on a non-commercial scale. Often shorted to
simply Zine. To some people, "fanzine" only means the sort of thing put out
by the David Cassidy Fan Club, but they are Wrong.
Fen: The plural of fan.
Fortean: Relating to the interests of Charles Fort, a very strange
gentleman who published several books early in this century. Fort collected
newspaper clippings on all sorts of strange phenomena: rains of frogs,
planets sighted where they shouldn't be, ridiculous weather, earthquakes,
objects in the sky, and lots more. Forteans today are still doing the same,
and seem to consider themselves more respectable than those newfangled UFO
researchers.
Gemstone File: The real Gemstone File was a list of contributors to
CREEP. The various versions that circulate these days in poor photocopies
are conspiratorial mishmashes linking together all the major political
figures of the Watergate era (and sometimes the Kennedy era as well) into
one gargantual plot.
Gonzo: A type of journalism invented by Hunter S. Thompson, and by
extension the style of writing associated with it. Typically gonzo writing
features an aggressively personal introduction of the writer and his own
personal problems and prejudices into every page. Often gonzo writing is
sprinkled with references to drugs, sex, and fast cars, many of which are
probably imaginary. Most people grow out of this sort of thing. For a short
introduction, read Thompson's FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS.
Hugo Awards: Named after Hugo Gernsback, the "father of modern sceince
fiction", these are given at the World Science Fiction Convention every year
to notable professional and amateur works, including fanzines.
Illo: Illustration. A "spot illo" is a random piece of art that's thrown
in wherever the publisher finds room.
Indie: Independent music company -- typically two guys with a few
thousand bucks and at most one promising band. Refers more generally to any
music that's not carried in the local Woolworth's.
Industrial: A genre of music which is played on chainsaws, old
automobile body panels, and other non-traditional music. Often everything
but rhythm is abandoned to the joys of spontaneous creation. Very hard to
learn to like, but perfect for driving unwanted visitors from the house.
Libertarian: It has been said that a libertarian is just a Republican
who does drugs. Most libertarians are in favor of free enterprise and a
minimal (but nonzero) amount of government. There are some libertarians who
are anarchists, and just to confuse things, anarchists used to call
themselves libertarians. To confuse things further, there are the civil
libertarians, who worry more about rights than about profits. Anyhow, the
libertarian movement in America seems to have peaked, so you might not have
to worry about this kettle of fish for much longer.
Loc: Letter of Comment on a fanzine.
Mail-Art Network (MAN): Similar to an apa but usually involving more
artwork, less words, and a greater variety of media. Mail art comes in
everything from music to slides, but is concentrated in drawings and
collages. With no history, no memory and no hierarchy, Mail Art started as
a supremely democratic medium, but it seems to be developing professionals
and losing its roots as time goes on. Some people take this evolution to
mean that mail art is dead.
Mailing: see Disty.
Marginal: Out of the mainstream. There is a small but persistent group
in the small press that constitute the marginal milieu. Often it seems that
they deliberately avoid becoming part of the mainstream on general
principles, even where this makes no sense. Perhaps because of their
isolation, marginals tend to be fervently convinced of the obvious rightness
of their crackpot positions.
Minarchy: A form of government consisting of essential services
only, generally national defense and police and criminal law proceedings.
Used as a slur against Libertarian Party members by those outside of the
party.
Minicomic: Like a comic book but much smaller and usually printed in
black and white instead of color. Typical size is about 3" by 4", 8 or 12
pages, and the typical price is around a quarter.
Naturists: This is what nudists call themselves when they want to avoid
unsavory connotations.
NBAU: No Business As Usual, which attempts to present itself s a
broad-based organization of protestors against the system, but is actually a
front for the Revolutionary Communist Party. Supposedly they're abandoning
it now for the new organization Refuse And Resist.
Neoism: A deliberately self-conscious art movement which originated
somewhere in England. All dedicated Neoists call themselves Monty Cantsin,
publish magazines called SMILE, and play in bands called White Colours.
There's something about the democratization of art involved in all this, as
well as a great deal of spoofing of other art movements of this century.
Neopagan: Member of any number of loosely related religions that are
involved in nature- or Goddess-worship, or in the resurrection of old gods.
Bonded together by a search for alternatives to established, heriarchal
religions. Often pantheistic or polytheistic, not to mention fun-loving.
Sometimes called Pagans.
Networking: What you're doing when you read FACTSHEET FIVE and then
write to someone listed in it. Trendy synonym for "communication". Oh, some
people claim that there is a difference, in that networking tries to weave
people together into some larger structure. Well, just talking at parties
does that too, only less self-consciously.
OE: Official Editor. The person who coordinates the activities of an
apa. Sometimes called a CM, for Central Mailer.
Pagan: see Neopagan
Panarchy: A system proposed by some anarchists and others of that ilk in
which government becomes a market good just like cheese. Usually it's
presented in a framework of competing communities, each with its own form of
government chosen by its people, so if you don't like living under a
democratic socialist system you can move down the river to a anarcho-
syndicalist one. See the third part of Nozick's ANARCHY, STATE AND UTOPIA
for one presentation of this idea.
Partyarch: One whose primary political commitment is to the ideal of
freedom and full liberty for all, as implemented by the Libertarian Party.
A slur word used by Libertarian anarchists.
Pfanzine: A fanzine dealing with music of any type, derived from the
words "punk fanzine". The silent "p" serves to distinguish them from
sfanzines. By no means do all pfanzines only deal with punk music; you can
find any genre from bluegrass and folk to experimental electronic music in
the right pfanzine. The fastest-growing part of zinedom. Many punk pfanzines
have overtones of politics, animal rights, anarchy, or similar social
movements.
Posterist: A producer of single-page posters, usually illustrating some
obscure political or social point or designed to confuse the normal people.
Various posterists use Mail Art Networkss, telephone poles, or direct mailing
to distribute their works. Propaganda by the masses. The archetypical art of
the Sixties and beyond.
Prozine: A term used mainly by those who write sfanzines, to distinguish
themselves from professional magazines that publish science fiction, not
that anyone would be likely to confuse the two these days.
Punkture: The culture of the punk movement, as popularized by the
Artists & Writers Underground folks in New York City. Much punkture seems to
consist of either alienated poetry or pictures of strange sex. In any case
it is not what you'll find in the mainstream media, not even MY WEEKLY
READER.
RPG: Role-playing game. Dungeons & Dragons is the most notorious
example, but there are lots of others.
SASE: Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope. Should be legal sized with 22
cents postage unless otherwise specified.
Semiprozine: A sfanzine that isn't big enough to be making scads of
money, but too big for its editor to answer all mail personally. A sfanzine
that is seeking to leave the underground to become a part of the alternative
press.
Sfanzine: A fanzine dealing with science fiction, or at least produced
by a fan. The silent "s" is to distinguish them from pfanzines. Actually,
most sfanzines don't talk about science fiction at all, being a forum for
discussion of lawnmowing, auto repairs, everyday life, and the space
program. Traditionally sfanzines are more important than eating or sleeping
to the "fanzine fans".
Situationism: Theory of the now-defunct Situationist International, the
avant-garde turned mean. The Sits lambasted the "society of the spectacle",
indicting the system and its spurious oppositions for organizing experiences
and fragmenting reality. Economically they were for workers councils,
politically they rejected everyone else, especially radicals, as betrayers of
liberatory ideals. And they used too many big words in their writings.
Tipped In: Refers to any insert to a zine that doesn't seem to belong
there: a minicomic stuffed into a pfanzine, original postcards pasted to the
pages, or whatever.
Thrash: A sub-genre of punk that is distinguished by playing one's
instruments fast, loud, and not particularly musically.
Underground Press: The real thing, before it gets slick, co-opted, and
profitable. The underground press comes out in small quantities, is often
illegible, treads on the thin ice of unmentionable subjects, and never
carries ads for designer jeans. The most vibrant source of writing in the
country today.
The Usual: Traditional method of obtaining sfanzines without sullying
oneself with cash. Generally includes trading other zines, writing locs,
contributing articles or art, or being recipient of a whim.
Vonu: A pseudoacronym from Voluntary and Not Vulnerable. A method of
obtaining individual liberty by escaping from society into the wilderness
and only coming back for cheeseburgers and other necessary supplies. More
preached than practiced, but for a while it was an important part of
apocalyptic libertarian thought.
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