Culture

[threemonkeys]

I did manage to read Banana Wings in under the delivery time (context). It made me a little uncomfortable. This may be in spite of or more likely because it is such a fine example of its kind. It is well produced and has loads of good writing - including a piece giving an ABC on how to thin out your book collection should you want to do such a thing. But the thing about a fanzine is that it is about things fannish. I realise that I haven't read such a fanzine in a long time - local club newsletters really do not count. I realise that I have become distanced from the terminology, people and ethos of fandom as represented within. I used to have more of a connection back when I was attending worldcons and especially reading a lot more fanzines. It isn't just me, I think most of the local fan community has separated itself from these traditional aspects of fandom. It might be interesting to examine why this drift away has happened - I suspect that there are lots of contributing factors but a big generational change where a whole group of fans left the scene is going to be very high on the list of causes.

So is this a big deal? Not necessarily. It isn't as if the connections that I have are gone completely. It is just that it is a bit like meeting an old friend that you haven't heard from for a long time. You still know them and they are still your friend, but there is a lot that just seems unfamiliar too. As I said at the beginning, it makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Sometimes when you meet an old friend again, you hook up and re-establish your relationship - sometimes you know that you have drifted too far apart. Uncomfortable because I'm not entirely sure which way this is going to go.