De culturele economie van literaire fantijdschriften: fanzines en distinctielogica's in de moderne Nederlandse literatuur

Abstract

Fanzines focusing on one particular literary author appear to have a contradictory nature: though both editors and contributors often present themselves as fans and engage in fan behavior, they express a distinct unease at being seen as ‘fans’. This article analyses this contradiction by considering three Dutch literary magazines (from the 1990s to the present): Ronflonflon, dedicated to Wim T. Schippers, Hermans-magazine, focusing on W.F. Hermans, and Buchmania Magazine, devoted to Boudewijn Buch. We argue that these magazines facilitate a cultural economy that combines popular practices with the conventions of institutionally sanctioned forms of high culture. First, the magazines’ similarities to popular fanzines are revealed by focusing on four characteristics: amateurism, audience/reader participation, genre and media diversity, and tactics of appropriation. Secondly, the article draws attention to multiple strategies of distinction that editors and contributors employ to negotiate the tensions between popular practices and official literary culture.