Periodicals and Belonging?

Abstract

This article explores the notion of belonging in periodical studies, arguing that periodicals have historically functioned as spaces for negotiating and performing belonging. Amid contemporary political rhetoric about borders and belonging, we examine how periodicals have both constructed and contested boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks from political geography, psychology, and cultural studies, we propose that belonging operates through periodicals in multiple dimensions: material (through physical production, layout, and tactile engagement), temporal (connecting past, present, and imagined futures), spatial (creating real and imagined communities across geographical boundaries), and affective (generating emotional attachments thatbind readers together). The special issue presents six articles examining how periodicals foster belonging in institutional and professional communities (regimental journals and film criticism); place-based belonging; activism and resistance (revolutionary soldier newspapers and alternative magazines for marginalized groups). Together, these studies reveal how periodicals simultaneously challenge and reinforce boundaries of inclusion, offering valuable insights into contemporary challenges of polarization and fragmentation in our contemporary sociopolitical landscape.