The Fanzinarium, a library of amateur publications, introduces its treasures to the “largest number” in Paris

In Fanzinarium, an associative library of the 20th arrondissement, you can consult 6000 “fanzines”. Amateurs comics, ultra -espécalized journals of Music and cinema enthusiasts, punks or LGBT brochures … Publications printed with resourceful, great freedom of expression, and barely drawn from a few dozen copies.

On the fanzinarium shelves, there are papers of all colors and sizes. This small room, located rue des Vignoles and managed exclusively by volunteers, shares a large collection of fanzines on a multitude of themes. “”Music, literature, politics, cinema, manga, comics, photos … There are even fanzines of football supporters. We caught that of Menilmontant FC, an anti -fascist club, it also goes with our values“, List Delphine Ya-Chee-Chan, member of the association.

But what is a fanzine? “”It is a contraction in English between the words 'Fanatic' and 'Magazine'. The term appeared in the 1930s in the United States to describe publications of science fiction. Participatory letters shared between passionate readers, who had realized that they did not live far from each other. In France, the boom comes from the self-service photocopier, in the late 1970s“Summarizes the 44 -year -old volunteer.

The fanzinarium was born just over five years ago. “”In Poitiers, there has been the Fanzinothèque since the 80s, with 50,000 publications. In good Parisians, we wanted to open a library in the capital, accessible next to us. Fanzines are extremely marginal publications, so it can be complicated to find and read it for free. The idea is also to prolong the life of these prints, and to benefit the greatest number. Personally, I think you have to make them live and turn as much as possible, even if it means taking the risk that they are damaged. We are a library, not a museum. But this is my point of view: to keep this heritage, it also defends itself“She says.

Between the private collections of the volunteers and the donations received regularly by the association, 6000 “Zines” are made available – the oldest date from the 60s. “We have a militant goal. It is a non -merchant place, not a bookstore. We can come and consult on site, we don't make a loan. The only moments when there are sales here are at events when fanzine and fanzinous are invited to present their work themselves“, Specifies Delphine Ya-Chee-Chan.”Right now on the window, there are stories created by a small old man in the neighborhood, Stéphane Goarnisson. He diverts comics in his corner by combining boxes that have a priori nothing to do, and distributes his notebooks a little at random“, She slips.

“The fanzine is an alternative media. In general, there is no legal deposit, which is normally an obligation. When an individual wants to publish alone at his expense, we are in a vagueness in relation to the law, there are no rules. And it is made with small means to communicate between fans within a community. Draws often revolve around 100 copies. There is a link with the punk movement and the principle of 'do it yourself': Artisanal reproductive techniques allow you to do everything yourself, with resourceful. Make a fanzine is 'hacker'. You have to trick and explore“Explains the volunteer.

A freedom illustrated by the great diversity of printing formats “more or less good taste” et “a more or less controlled layout“. Collage, screen printing, or simply”Basic photocopying with folded and stapled A4 paper“… “Sometimes people install gear in their bathroom to have color without breaking the bank. And you can even make a fanzine on other supports than paper“, Details Delphine Ya-Chee-Chan. At the Fanzinarium, there are” fanzines-objects “, for example with a camembert box or haikus to burn, on cigarette leaves.

The volunteer also highlights “Direct speaking“allowed by fanzines,”without hierarchy“. “There is a horizontality between the fanzine and the reader. There is not the authority's authority, the author“, She praises. What, in passing, provoke”some drifts“, “From the moment everyone can say what they want without control“. Delphine Ya-Chee-Chan quotes”Scandals around pedophile comics“And the risks linked to false information. In his” hell “(the library section where we keep apart from the works that we do not want to put in all hands), the fanzinarium keeps for its part”A hijacking of negationist comics, found in the street“. “It is very rare, we keep it in a box, we do not expose it with the rest as if nothing had been“Explains Delphine Ya-Chee-Chan.

But this freedom is above all associated with “a culture of reappropriation“. “Our goal is also to invite to create your own fanzine. Everyone has the right to print, but not everyone does. We want to show that it is possible to get started without prohibiting anything. We do not make 'propaganda' so that people become militants queer or vegan, but to hear the multitude of these words“Indicates the volunteer, who participates in fanzines by creating”Small comics and articles“For the Association of Friends of the Popular Print.

Documentalist professor in a high school in Seine-Saint-Denis, Delphine Ya-Chee-Chan evokes her personal history: “I have weight problems. The first thing I have read on grossophobia was in a fanzine called 'oppression and liberation of size'. And it allowed me to think about my relationship differently to my body. If I hadn't come across it, today I would surely have undergone an operation.”

Organized around “A nucleus of four-five people“, The fanzinarium is accessible twice a week: Wednesdays from 6.30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.”We also open by appointment for the people who contact us. In the idea, we would like to have more hours to introduce the place“, Recognizes the volunteer, while social networks are now participating in a revival of fanzines, allowing to create publications”without network or“.