This article explores the meaning and materiality of contemporary zines. As do-it-yourself and profit-resistant publications seeing a sustained resurgence, zines are an interesting and valuable case within the cultural sociology of reading. Based on a thematic analysis of 73 zines collected from a 2019 zine fair, and qualitative interviews with 16 zine readers, in this article we consider the ‘felt value’ (Simmel 2005 [1916]) of zines. We explore how contemporary zines—via their content and form—intimately speak to both the weight and frivolity of life, how they intensively grapple with questions about relationships and ways of living, and what this means for how meaning is made material(ly) in the form. Conceptually, we bring together Thumala Olave’s (2017, 2020) work on affect and reading with Alexander’s (2008a, b) work on iconicity and immersion and Bennett’s (2018a, b) work on the significance and diversification of DIY projects in contemporary cultural practice. We identify four iconic properties of the contemporary form: a DIY ethos and aesthetic, anti-mainstream positioning, an intimacy, and an intensity. These iconic properties offer insight into how reading zines is made meaningful through the iconicity and immersive materiality of the analogue zine form.

中文翻译：

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阅读杂志的感觉价值

本文探讨了当代杂志的意义和重要性。作为 DIY 和抗利性出版物的持续复苏，杂志是阅读文化社会学中一个有趣且有价值的案例。基于对 2019 年杂志博览会收集的 73 种杂志的主题分析以及对 16 位杂志读者的定性采访，在本文中，我们考虑了杂志的“感觉价值”（Simmel 2005 [1916]）。我们探索当代杂志如何——通过它们的内容和形式——亲密地谈论生活的重量和轻薄，它们如何深入地解决有关关系和生活方式的问题，以及这对于意义如何在表格。从概念上讲，我们将 Thumala Olave (2017, 2020) 与 Alexander (2008a, b) 关于象似性和沉浸感的工作以及 Bennett (2018a, b) 关于 DIY 项目在当代文化实践中的重要性和多样化的工作。我们确定了当代形式的四个标志性属性：DIY 精神和美学、反主流定位、亲密感和强度。这些标志性属性让我们深入了解如何通过模拟杂志形式的图像性和沉浸式材料使阅读杂志变得有意义。