Weekly real-life magazines (RLMs) for women form a genre that has experienced sustained popularity for more than three decades and are constructed from claims to represent their readerships’ lives. Strikingly, during the COVID-19 pandemic where other magazines have witnessed a decline in sales and many closures, real-life titles have experienced continuous success. This article reads RLMs through a psychosocial lens as a symptom of an emerging social melancholia that began to form from the late 1970s in the United Kingdom. Through an analysis of Chat magazine, the article illustrates how the genre was constructed and argues that it resonates with a form of melancholia that has led to the creation of communities bonded through shared collective experiences that have found the semblance of resolution within this genre’s creation.
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Chat (1995b) 11(21).
Chat (1997) 13(36).
Chat (2001) 14(1).
Chat (2003) 13(1).
Chat Facebook (2014a) If you could ask the Prime Minister one question, what would it be?, https://www.facebook.com/page/111281175568022/search/?q=claiming%20benefits.
Chat Facebook (2014b) Why do some women find it so hard to saying something nice about themselves? Do you think it’s to do with self-esteem problems, or the worry you might be seen as big headed? We’d love to hear your thoughts, https://www.facebook.com/page/111281175568022/search/?q=self%20esteem.
Chat Facebook (2015) Are you or have you ever been unemployed? If so, what’s the toughest thing about it – feeling judged, struggling financially, worrying about your kids? And finally, do you feel there’s enough support for job-seekers out there?, https://www.facebook.com/page/111281175568022/search/?q=benefits%20street.
Chat Facebook (2016) What annoys you more – people who fiddle their benefits or massive companies avoiding paying their tax?, https://www.facebook.com/page/111281175568022/search/?q=claiming%20benefits.
Chat Facebook (2017a) How much of a sense of community where you live?, https://www.facebook.com/ChatMagazine/photos/a.111303368899136.13142.111281175568022/1740716315957825/?type=3.
Chat Facebook (2017b) What you up to tonight?, https://www.facebook.com/ChatMagazine/photos/a.111303368899136.13142.111281175568022/1754513937911396/?type=3.
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