Referring to Mountfort et al. (2018), in what ways is cosplay analogous to citation
Cosplay is a portmanteau of the words ‘costume’ and ‘play’, but can also be looked at as a combination of the words ‘costume’ and ‘role-play’ (Crawford & Hancock, 2018). Cosplay involves fans wearing costumes and performing as characters from popular shows, movies, comic books, video games or any other type of mainstream media (Mountfort et al, 2018). According to Dictionary.com, a citation is “the act of citing or quoting a reference to an authority or a precedent.” In this instance, cosplay is analogous to citation in that it references its source material, as people who take part in cosplay use their bodies, costumes and the physical space they are in to reference another text (Mountfort et al, 2018). Cosplay also goes further than just referencing its source material, as many cosplayers edit the original source to make it fit their own unique identity, in a process of disruptive citation (Mountfort et al, 2018).
Just as we would reference an academic to build an argument in an essay, cosplay is comparative to citation in that the act of dressing up as a character from a specific text is a form of referencing it. This can be done through costumes and props, such as a cosplayer wielding a dagger to show they are San from Princess Mononoke, or combining a rope with the star-spangled one-piece to embody Wonder Woman (Mountfort et al, 2018). It can also be done through how the cosplayer acts or performs their chosen character while at a convention or out in public (Mountfort et al, 2018). The cosplayer’s body becomes a text that references another text, and they use not just costume but pose and gesture to achieve this (Mountfort et al, 2018). Lamerichs (2011) argues that cosplay drives fans to closely examine and interpret existing texts, perform them via costumes and/or skits, and extend them with their own stories and ideas.
In their study of cosplay, Crawford and Hancock (2018) found that cosplayers stayed in the characters they were portraying as much as possible. This went beyond simply wearing the costume; they acted out scenes of dialogue from the source text, or even created new dialogue in-character, trying to act in the way that they perceived their character would act (Crawford & Hancock, 2018). For example, one participant of the study said that he felt duty-bound to maintain his character in public, especially when children were involved. He said, “They don’t know you are just a lad from Manchester. To them you are actually a stormtrooper. So you might as well act like one and uphold the dream. So if a kid comes up to you and goes, ‘Hey! Scoutrooper how are you doing?’ [Adopts American accent], ‘I’m doing alright sir’. I play up to it and stay in character for as long as possible” (Crawford & Hancock, 2018, p. 315). In this example, the cosplayer is using cosplay as a form of citation to reference Star Wars. The child in question understands the reference because the costume, mannerisms and accent are all directly referencing or citing a stormtrooper.
Cosplay is also comparable to citation in that, unlike other forms of costume or performance, cosplay is heavily reliant on its source material (Mountfort et al, 2018). Other fashion subcultures or forms of dressing up, such as steampunk or Lolita, are not wholly reliant on a specific text to reference in the same way cosplay is (Mountfort et al, 2018). For example, a cosplayer embodying the Joker would have several iterations of the character in which they could reference. A cosplayer dressed as Jack Nicolson’s Joker would look, sound and act completely different from someone channeling Heath Ledger’s version (WatchMojo.com, 2014). The cosplayer researches and studies the cited text in order to reference it fully with their costume and performance (Mountfort et al, 2018). This in turn leads the audience to take a mental leap into the world of the cited character (Mountfort et al, 2018).
Cosplay also goes further than simply citing its source material. Cosplayers often have their own interpretations of a character, and edit or co-create their costumes as a form of disruptive citation (Mountfort et al, 2018). Jenkins (1992) suggests that media fans create new interpretations and narratives that go against the dominant mainstream media. What is defined by the source text, such as gender or race, is often critiqued, negotiated and explored by cosplayers to fit their own identity (Mountfort et al, 2018). Gender-bending cosplay is becoming increasingly popular as we see more people cosplaying a character that is different from their gender, such as a woman cosplaying Batman or a man cosplaying Misty from Pokemon. There is a lot of creativity that goes into the construction of a gender-bent costume, and designers mend the outfit to cite the source material in a new way that will fit their gender (Winens, 2018).
To conclude, cosplayers use their bodies as a text to reference another text from popular media, making it comparable to citation or referencing.
References
Crawford, G., & Hancock, D. (2018). Urban poachers: Cosplay, playful cultures and the appropriation of urban space. The Journal of Fandom Studies, 6(3), 301-318. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/10.1386/jfs.6.3.301_1
Jenkins, H. (1992), Textual Poachers. Routledge.
Lamerichs, N. (2011). Stranger than fiction: Fan identity in cosplay. Transformative Works and Cultures, 7(3), 56-72. https://doi:10.3983/twc.2011.0246
Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect.
WatchMojo.com. (2014, March 16). Heath Ledger vs. Jack Nicholson as The Joker [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz8AXNi4wnI&t=250s&ab_channel=WatchMojo.com
Winens, E. M. (2018, May 1). With gender-bending, cosplay adds another layer of creativity. Study Breaks. https://studybreaks.com/tvfilm/gender-bending-cosplay-creativity/
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