THE FANZINE SCENE IN YUGOSLAVIA

After the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia, its alternative scene was forced into division by the borders of the newly established fiefdoms. It took time for it's print authors to recover and adapt to the microbised spaces they were left in. Mainly, ex-yugoslav authors kept publishing in zines all over ex-Yugoslavia. Perhaps the strongest linx between people in former Yugoslavia were the ones between Serbia and Croatia. Almost all of the old zines were done by people from both the republics. Now, the authors were forced to find new ways of keeping that line open. The borders were closed and there was no postal or phone communication for a long time. Still, the co-operation between people from Serbia and Croatia had continued throughout the war years, mostly on a personal level. Lots of articles and interviews were published on both sides. Current co-ops are the Zaginflatch newsletter, the Comunitas fanzine and a project with the workname A-national library - it's about the digitalization of all works on Anarchism in Serbo-Croatian and, possibly, in Slovenian and Macedonian too.
The constant lack of money is another problem that the zinemakers were now faced with. Your average Yugoslav zinemaker is a student or a schoolboy. He lives with his parents, in a university dorm or in an apartment paid for by parents (there is no squatting in Yugoslavia). Only a few of them have permanent jobs. Their main sources of income are parents, benefit tapes and fee jobs. In some small towns and villages, posts or individual postmen refuse to receive mail, or refuse to send any, or they overcharge it, effectively disabling the authors/makers. The appearance of the Internet has managed to salvage that situation somewhat, but many of the authors still don't have access. Copying is a special story. Yugoslav mama's and papa's often copy their children’s zines at work and people are capable of going long ways just to get it done cheaper. The circulations are usually 8 - 1000.
Many use fanzines as their way of not going berserk in the social situations they're in. Zinemaking becomes their only creative amusement. Then they usually get hot on communication, since the scene is well connected, so they survive through the winter.
The scene has greatly developed over the decade. After the stabile but few situation in the early 90s, a productive explosion had happened from '94 onward. Also, the usual content has undergone great changes. The post80s-all-alike-one-line-of-music-one-line-of-politics-comic-on-the-back-page, of the early 90s, was replaced by zines with very individualized approaches. Profilation has happened and now there are strict musical, political, personal, art, comic and mixed zines.
The scene exists on multiple levels. Generations mostly stick together. The eldest zinmakers are not over their mid-30s. Members of the 'older' generation, in their mid-20s communicate very little with the 15-16 year old kids who are just starting out. The number of zinmakers drops fast as they get older. Most of them quit by 18.
The rest of their generations often think that they're jerks, fussing with such bull; but, eventually, many of them do get interested, seeing the energy and creativeness invested in d'a making of th zines. Education of zinemakers also varies, from elementary to university magistratorial. Same goes for the material situation, although, the "richer" are (logically) more liable toward making fanzines. The boys generally outnumber the girls by a 70:30 or 80:20.
Ok, now, I could have made a list of fanzines and related groups and stories about them, but it would have been too boring and space consuming. You can find it at https://www.angelfire.com/nv/mihajlo
Before the latest war, there were about 500-600 fanzines, mostly in close association with alternative bands, revolutionary groups and music lovers. The number of subversive musical bands was also great. However, those were backed up by a mere 5-6 mail order tape distributions.
Now, the situation isn’t very promising and cities like Nis and Kragujevac will probably remain as void as before, while the few zine strongholds like Sombor, Smederevska Palanka, Belgrade and Kraljevo, will have to struggle for mere survival. There will be zines and that is not the question, but the problem is the best authors are fleeing en masse, even in their formative age. That is a common situation and the country has always produced more smart people than it would tolerate, but it is doubtful that this will go on. Money is now in total lack, so, if an alternative band looses an instrument due to malfunction, they have to wait for months, before they can buy a new one. You can imagine the impact this has on the musical scene. Now imagine having a ready for print fanzine and no money to do the miserable 200 copies. You can get the money in like 2 months, but half the articles would be out of date. Or you could use your savings, but then you can’t buy anything cept food for the next 2 months. Then, you can always loan the money from someone, that is, if they are not all in the same situation as you…
Inspite of the undescribable self-sacrifice that could be seen these last years, there just isn’t a future to be seen. Not one that isn’t as gray as the stinking rains that fall on Belgrade every hour or so. Most of those who have the money and don’t get too sick cause of the chemicals or the radiation will escape with the first visa they can get. As for the rest… After all, the biggest yugoslav export are it’s young and smart. Have been for over a decade. Therefore, the thing to expect is that the contribution of .yu authors to foreign zines will be huge, especially in the next few years. After that, the export will probably stop, cause there will be no money for no zines and none for leaving the country. Future could become a forgotten word, even in Belgrade.

by: Mihajlo Acimovic, In Transit
special thanx to:
Aco Popadic, Kraljevo, Yugoslavia
Marko Vukovic, Zagreb, Croatia

Email: skladiste3@angelfire.com