Week 8 – Cosplay as Citation

Referring to Mountfort et al. (2018), in what ways is cosplay analogous to citation?

On the surface, cosplay is universally associated with fans dressing up as characters from comics, film, tv and many other popular media texts. This practise can be seen as analogous to citation, due to it’s act of requiring a source text to reference. Mountfort (2018) explains this concept with the example of walking through a convention space occupied by cosplayers. The costumes, props and movements performed in this space are live and ‘in action’ acts of referencing by cosplayers of a variety of source texts.

We can look at cosplay and the process of direct quotation/paraphrasing as very similar. Cosplayers choose characters from a source text and recreate them, providing their understanding or view of said source text, in the same way we might incorporate a direct quote or reword a portion from a peer reviewed journal in order to clarify our stances or claims in a piece of academic writing. The difference here is in the visual, performative nature of cosplay – which acts as citation itself – as opposed to written citation where authors and referenced texts are expected to be present through the use of in-text citation and bibliographies. Citation is otherwise understood as a form respect and acknowledgement for existing work, so it is no surprise that cosplays modern take has been criticised as ‘textual poaching’ of popular culture (et al. 2018).

Cosplay and citation also have in common that their sources could be potentially ‘messed’ with (Mountfort, 2018). Citation in writing is used to either support and negate ideas, resulting in carefully picking references that fit the preferred argument. This could be data, quotes and other findings on an argument. The other side to this is that sources are not immune to being manipulated to appear as though it supports or negates certain ideas. With cosplay, a source is also required for reference and support however it is a single source text that is used, since the physical body is the ‘canvas’ more or less where the citation occurs. The source text here, is used to provide a base for the creation of costumes, props and performances by the cosplayer. Like citation, these texts are also not immune to being manipulated, however, it is the vast layers of interpretation that are a pillar of cosplay itself. Gigaba notes this freedom-of-expression aspect has created a blur between appreciation and appropriation (2017), especially in instances where political or cultural histories are utilized for ‘play’ by cosplayers who may or may not have prior knowledge of such things. For example, a non-white cosplayer darkening their face as part of their costume is in essence blackface, however in the context of a cosplay convention this would be overlooked by many, perhaps the cosplayer himself. “Politically correct cosplay requires a critical consciousness and willingness to compromise certain representational aspects of our personal heroes of fiction” (Gigaba, 2017).

References

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Cosplay as Citation. In Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom (pp. 23-38). Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press.

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Cosphotgraphy and Fan Capital. In Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom (pp. 23-38). Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press.

Gigaba, A. (2017, June 27). Cosplay – A Blurred Distinction Between Appreciation And Appropriation. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ayanda-gigaba/cosplay-a-blurred-distinction-between-appreciation-and-approp_a_22492070/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKHjl0cWxGpVAvpiOgfiR4lwW8f6wKlJuHb4Y0rTAaP4e9RzE6evs0jVfg4AVhDydzXDJxcMfZPhUweZIBd02lxHFfZKoD4iOXTK1ceNALRMDy-RsjyKApFrd4v4Aj52xCkiogM2snqLcjBjKejDtrr60I3JjpgrEVhiOZv8KGe5