Resistance narratives in radical, alternative media: A historical examination of Earwig

Abstract

This research examines the discursive conventions and resistance narratives of Earwig, a New Zealand alternative magazine that began publication in 1969. This work reappropriates previous examinations of narrative fragments and constitutive functions that have been found to coalesce upon a physical anarchist gathering and suggests that such an approach can help to explain meta-narratives of meaning across the lifetime of a specific publication. In doing so, this work asks what kinds of meta-narratives can be created within a radical publication when there are no strong coalescing forces and the goal is anarchy. This study concludes by examining the kinds of resistance that emerged from the cultural values and identities found within these narratives of Earwig.