En röst från läktarna : Om ultrasfanzines som källmaterial och kulturarv

Sammanfattning

This master’s thesis discusses how fanzines can constitute important documents for research and cultural heritage. Executed as a case study, the thesis takes outset in the notion of fanzines as representations of undocumented spaces and practices. The chosen case for this study is fanzines made by ultras groups on the European football terraces. Besides the long tradition of fanzine publishing within this culture, the case is also chosen as it highlights a fanzine’s ability to document ephemeral, performative practices in a closed subcultural environment – in this case through for example vocal support and tifo choreographies. Using document theory, the study depicts how fanzines can be valuable, historical artefacts for not only the movement in which they are published, but also for libraries and researchers. The study is conducted through semi-structured interviews with makers and collectors of football fanzines, but also LAM-professionals who in different ways work with supporter culture - some of which fanzines are a part of their work. The results of these interviews show how fanzines implicate several challenges as a material, not least in terms of their physical conditions compared to other document types. This especially concerns how they often can be hard to collect, preserve and access. At the same time, many informants talk about how the physicality of a printed fanzine gives rise to nostalgia, tactility and collector's value, but also a permanence that makes the contents accessible in the future, compared to the fugitive feeds of social media. In addition to this, it is also highlighted how fanzines have been a way for supporters to present themselves and their views unfiltered and in contrast to the dominant views of the media, football associations and clubs. Lastly, football fanzines are also discussed as a channel for highly personal expression that can say a lot about the norms, attitudes and events that take place on the stands. This is a two-year master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.