Honors Theses
Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Journalism
First Advisor
Samir Husni
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The little magazine played a widely significant role in the political and cultural history of Western civilization. Literary and ephemeral in nature, the little magazine gave birth to Modernism in the early 20th century by publishing the works of little known authors such as William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Eliot to name a few. Later, the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of America recognized the influential role of the little magazine and began funding magazines that spoke to the anti- communist left in Europe and in the Americas at the beginning of the Cold War. While the political weight of the little magazine has been largely recognized by scholars, the reasons for its unique ability to affect cultural and political movements have not been closely studied. The unique form of the printed magazine—its departmental structure, its binding, and its curation of diverse voices under a single theme or call to action—allowed editors and contributors to reframe the dialectics of the era. In the digital age, that form's relevance has been questioned. Nonetheless, the printed magazine still plays a valuable role in modern culture and should not be abandoned simply because new forms arise. Re Magazine, a new publication that curates public domain content with striking relevance to current events, demonstrates the continued relevance of print in the digital age. A distillation of the elements that made little magazines influential in the 20th century, Re Magazine prompts readers to relive the past, and to reconsider the future.
Recommended Citation
Webb, Jesse, "Re Magazine and the Politics of the Little Magazine" (2017). Honors Theses. 443.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/443
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