Category: Week 8 Questions – Cosplay

4. How do postmodern “superflat structures” relate to cosplay?

Cosplay (costume and play) is a contemporary phenomenon and according to Mountfort (2018), it’s also part of something venerable. The term cosplay describes an action where a person preforms and portraits a fictional character (Hale, 2014), today cosplay reflects modern fandoms and their ability to create mass cultural engagement both online and offline (Mountfort, 2018). The person uses a costume and accessories to look like a character and uses their body to mimic postures, gestures and the language the specific character uses. Cosplay is a “somatic, material and textual practice.” (Hale, 2014).
Now how does the concept of superflat structures relate to cosplay? Firstly, let’s have a look at what superflat is.  According to Favell (2011) superflat is a term used to describe a distinct type of Japanese art. Takashi Murakami used the word superflat to describe something that is naturally two dimensional, that instead of alluding to depth highlights its inner flatness (Beynon, 2012).
It began with a sculpture made by Murakami, the sculpture is called My Lonesome Cowboy and is described by Favell (2011) as “A naked cartoon boy with a big grin,  enormous eyes and crazy hair … masturbating, a wild lasso of plastic semen filling the air around him.” The work stands as Japan’s most successful piece of art ever (Favell, 2011).  
Superflat is inspired by the animation and comic culture in Japan and we see a lot of childlike paintings, toys and big instalments (Favell, 2011).
Cosplay relates to the structures of superflat because of how the audience is watching fragments of a two dimensional fictional/nonfictional character being performed by a cosplayer.
The cosplayer displays a performance either live or through photography, cosplay is a visually rich medium, but with no or little narrative and it is the lack of narrative content that makes it fit in within the superflat structures (Mountfort, 2018).

Sources:

Beynon, D. (2012) Superflat architecture: culture and dimensionality, in Interspaces : Art + Architectural Exchanges from East to West. The University of Melbourne, School of Culture and Communication. https://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30044887/beynon-superflatarchitecture-2012.pdf

Favell, A. (2011) Before and After Superflat A Short History of Japanese Contemporary Art 1990-2011. Blue Kingfisher Limited. https://www.adrianfavell.com/BASF%20MS.pdf

Hale, M. (2014). Cosplay: Intertextuality, Public Texts, and the Body Fantastic. Western Folklore. 73(1), 5-37. Retrieved October 3, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24550744

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Intro and Chapter 1

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Chapter 2

Cosplay is an act of dressed up and performed as characters of all types of popular media texts, “roots in the mid to late twentieth century cross-pollination between American and Japanese popular culture” (Mountfort et al., 2018). These popular media texts include comics (manga for japanese) animation, games, live action films, televisions, even music videos etc. The aim for cosplayer is to portray a character’s looks, a step further by adding the character’s personality and behaviour, (Mckay, 2019). It is a global phenomenon within the 21st century media convergence, reflecting the contemporary fandom’s unmatched modes of the mass or pop culture engagement for both online and offline. Although it is a global thing it is still commonly believed to begin in Japan, mostly because of how the term ‘cosplay’ was coined in Japan around the 1983 (Mountfort et al., 2018). 

As cosplay are about dressed up and performed as characters from a popular media text, it can be seen as commonly a way of citation. Citation is a practices form of reference, when mentioning and referring, to a source of information. 

According toMountfort et al. (2018), cosplay analogous to citation, in ways that they are referencing to their chosen source texts by involving performing unlimited ‘citational acts’, including how they act or behavior and the way their dress. The act is “theatricalism, including pose and gesture” (Mountfort et al., 2018), their costume and props are also a part of referencing characters they chosen. Cosplay are different to dramatic theatre and screen performance, and it can be differentiated from how cosplay are not about realising the whole original script in going through a sustained performance. But are more about a “smaller or ‘parcellized’ portions of an original” script and story (Mountfort et al., 2018). The people who cosplay cite and refer to their source of information through between texture and performance, but are more of performance-orientated symbolic metaphor. It is common that they use terms such as “modelling, textual performance, translation, transportation, actualization, identification, intertextual or transmedial process and, indeed, ‘embodied citational acts.’” (Mountfort et al., 2018).

Cosplay citation is actually essential in the cosplayers’ decisions and subsequent appropriation of the original source material. As soon as a cosplayer decided to dress up with intention of a specific character, it means that the citation of that particular media texts has taken place. (Mountfort et al., 2018).

References:

Mckay, R. (2019, December 6). Cosplay 101: Everything You Need To Know About It. Who. https://www.who.com.au/what-is-cosplay

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect.

W8

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

Cosplay is people who wear their costumes inspired by fiction characters (Lamerichs, 2011). They will reference follow four elements: “a narrative, a set of clothing, a play or performance before spectators, and a subject or player” (Lamerichs, 2011). These references can be used as an analysis of cosplay (Lamerichs, 2011). People choose who they want to be as a source that they can dress up and imitate their character as references. Cosplay is a source of citation for people who use this source to transform their body into the characters from popular media texts (Mountfort et al., 2019).

Cosplay is a fan-based, who performed a character in a manga, or anime character in a parodic performance by Mari Kotani in Japan in 1978 (Lunning, 2012). Western imitates Cosplay from Japan with their popular culture sources such as mange, anime, otaku and idol culture but in Western and it is quite common source texts with mix and mashup their influence (Mountfort et al., 2019). Cosplay is considering as a form of citation, which cosplayers will dress themselves follow a source of citation called “citation acts” (Mountfort et al., 2019). Cosplayers dress into a character in manga or anime or movie that they want to be. The manga or anime is their source use of references to change themselves into a character in theirs. When others dress up as a character in anime or mange, people are implicitly known as a citation in a source text that cosplayers use in their costumes (Mountfort et al., 2019).  The costumes do not only imitate the character’s look but including pose and gesture (Mountfort et al., 2019). For the references or citation help the audience know what the character that cosplayers dress up and acting out (Mountfort et al., 2019) is. The fan not only wears and make up the same as the characters but they try to use the source text or story world to get closer to the audiences. Cosplayers not only play around with the character but use the source for “parody, pastiche, satire, burlesque, and caricature” (Mountfort et al., 2019). Cosplay is not only cited materials from the source but they change it more creative or change to a new version with their citation. They not only simple imitate to become a character or just only for acting out but they are mixing and mashing practices for fanfiction or anime music videos.

Cosplay reference can be seen as a source text of translation and adaptation where people use their body to “embodied translation” to citational act (Mountfort et al., 2019). Cosplay is not only imitated but they try their best to look as much as the same character as possible. That will make them successful in cosplay their characters. People also follow their gender and race to dress and imitate their character in cosplay. Still, many people dress differently from their gender; for example, a woman dressed up like a Spiderman or a superhero who is opposite her gender.

Cosplay likes an entertainment game or a way for others want to dress in a character that they love in an anime or manga. They use their favourite anime or mange as their citation to dress same as a character in the story.

Reference:

Lamerichs, N. (2011). Stranger than fiction: Fan identity in cosplay. Transformative Works and Cultures, 7(3), 56-72.

Lunning, F. (2012). Cosplay and the Performance of Identity. Retrieved from http://www. quodlibetica. com/cosplay-and-the-performance-of-identity/(tarkastettu: maaliskuu 2016).

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2019). Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom. Intellect Books.

WEEK 8 COSPLAY 

1. In what ways can cosplay be understood in terms of notions such as affect, transportation, transubstantiation and mediated fantasy? 

The word “cosplay” was coined in the eighties to describe the activity of “costume role-play” (Mountfort et al, 2018).  On its most basic level, this involves dressing up as a character then pretending to be them. 

Although cosplaying began in America at sci-fi conventions, it was in Japan where it really took off and developed into a major subculture. It is no surprise many costumes worn by cosplayers are from Japanese characters, most notably from anime, manga and video games (Mountfort et al, 2018).  

Once a cosplayer dons their costume, they adopt the personalities of the characters they are portraying. In this way they are actors, they are performers, and when a camera is pointed at them, they are models. Those who make their own costumes could be regarded as fashion designers, tailors, painters or even sculptors. 

Cosplayers commonly reference their chosen source texts, regarded as a form of citation which can be either ‘direct imitation’ and ‘textual transformations.’ The former a faithful representation of the parent text and the latter is a contrast, fidelity (Mountfort et al, 2018).  

Beyond the social dimension of meeting new people and making friends, cosplayers who don a costume can forget about their regular lives and become someone else, if only for a day. They can transform into someone powerful and exciting, sexy and alluring or just cute and quirky. No matter what the attributes of the character they are playing, the process of adopting an alter-ego is described as mediated fantasy.  

The translation of such archetypal figures onto actual bodies becomes a kind of transubstantiation, in that Domsch suggests that ‘the “thing” that can be transported from one medium to another’ is the ‘mental construct that we call a narrative storyworld and its existents (Mountfort et al, 2018). 

This transportation of a particular sense of attaching intensities of feeling to fictional characters, leading to a desire to transcend mere reading and watching, can be described as an affect, the term referring here not just to the feelings provoked by cosplay but an intense corporeal response (Mountfort et al, 2018). 

 Those who are shy can tap into the strength of their character and completely come out of their shell. The simple act of wearing a costume can infuse the cosplayer with a level of energy and confidence which is greatly empowering. 

Plenty of cosplayers are not shy, extraverted and cosplay gives them the perfect excuse to let their true selves come to the surface. Although they may be confident and charismatic before they don their costume, cosplaying allows them the freedom to take their passions to a greater level of self-expression. 

Cosplaying can also make a person feel special. Dressing up in a stunning costume and having crowds of admirers showering them with compliments has obvious appeal. The encircling photographers and eager fans can make cosplayers feel like celebrities. 

REFERENCES  

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect Bristol,UK/Chicago, USA 

2. What does the terms détournement mean and how is it applicable to cosplay?

“Détournement can be defined as a variation on previous work, in which the newly created work has a meaning that is antagonistic or antithetical to the original”(Wikipedia, n.d). The term is also similar to a satirical parody, but rather than creating a new work that strongly implies only the original; it employs direct reuse of the authentic or faithful imitations. On the other side, Mountfort(2018) explains “Détournement literally means ‘to reroute’ or ‘to ‘hijack’ and for the Situationists was linked to the ‘ludic,’ or purposive play.” The term is linked with the Paris-based social revolutionary group of intellectuals and artists of the 1950s, which is still used today in the theory of criticism and includes pranks designed to encompass subversive beyond more mischief and undermine authority, social hierarchy and political views, thereby creating a good resonance with cosplay.

First of all, Detournement is useful in making cosplay a critical practice, not just a form of fandom. While familiarity with the story world of the character that the course player imitates to immerse himself as well as the audience in the fandom is a factor to enter the community, material and social concerns such as the player’s body shape, clothing costs, and their cooperation within the cosplay group may be important to them. According to Mountfort(2018), Cosplayers use parody, pastiche, satire, burlesque, and caricature through citation rather than using the source material. They also creates re-contextualization of sources consistent with other mixing and mashing practices, such as fan fiction and animation music video production, rather than merely dressing up or acting in a particular bypass form of cosplay. “Fan fiction and parodies, cosplay is part of the feedback loop that allows fans to enter into a text and transform it, turning readers into authors and blurring the distinction between fan and critic, as well as reader and text”(Mountfort,2018) The cosplayer gives a three-dimensional presence in the story world by activating the character through the understanding of the narrative and interpreting or reconstructing the character in various ways by becoming the character, not the usual self, in such a detournement.

Cosplay also often overturns gender as a ‘cross-play,’ where cosplayers also express race in a fluid manner. For example, “Tim Curry’s character Dr Frank N. Furter rapidly becoming an iconic instance of drag and establishing an early genetic link between cosplay and the gender-bending practice of crossplay.”(Mountfort,2018)

Like this, Detournement applies in various ways to cosplay. It induces cosplay to be viewed as a form of creative or destructive citations by quoting not only data from sources but also as a critical practice as well as fan-based consumerism by destroying existing media materials in a very special way.

References

Détournement. (2020, July 27). Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9tournement

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect.

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/ 

3. To what extent can narratology, translation and adaptation studies aid us in understanding cosplay?

Cosplay is an art form that is a popular way for fans of a certain series to express their love for it by dressing up and performing as characters from popular media. The discussion surrounding the art form continues to evolve and change over time as cosplay is increasingly popular and fan engagement also evolves. When approaching cosplay, there are several methods of analysis that can be applied to cosplay as a way of understanding it, these being narratology, translation, and adaptation studies.

Narratology is the study of narrative texts and the structure of narrative; the approach is effectively applicable to any narrative regardless of the medium. The term can be applied to literature, film, video games, and other mediums, however, it is difficult to apply narratology to cosplay. This is because most cosplay comes from existing texts that have long-running narratives, it results in the inability to translate an entire text’s narrative on to the cosplay. As such, the question surrounding narrative within cosplay is how much of it survives the transition to the medium of cosplay, Mountfort (2018, p. 31) asks “whether the terminology of narratology, the study of narrative texts, is of any relevance.” Attempting to apply narratology to cosplay, the narrative text would be the original text that a cosplayer derives their cosplay from, and the actor is the character that a cosplayer also decides. Although narratology cannot be directly applied to cosplay as a way of understanding the entire narrative of a text that a cosplay originates from; it can assist us in understanding the unique way narrative is told in cosplay. A cosplay might not be able to convey the entire history of the original text’s world, but it could potentially showcase a singular event that relates to the character of choice.

Translation studies can also aid us in understanding cosplay as the medium revolves greatly around referencing source texts and the accuracy of that referencing. The common belief surrounding translation used to be that they should be as painfully faithful to the original text as possible, where every single word and sentence is very literal. Translations now, however, take more creative liberties and they must be taken when translating from one language to another. Such is the case when translating Japanese as words can have multiple meanings. Translators must choose the appropriate meaning behind a word by attempting to discern what the original author intended. It results in translations that are never truly accurate but are better because of the changes made. This is how translation studies can help us better understand cosplay as translation studies according to Mountfort (2018, p. 32) “have moved away from the expectation of isomorphism (one-to-one correspondence) between a source text and the target text that characterized their pre-theoretical phase.” Cosplay is comparable to the way translations have changed because cosplay is not required to be a replica of a character’s design. Not being entirely faithful can result in a better cosplay because it must accommodate for how physics in the real-world work if an aspect of a character is impossible to recreate.

Like translation studies, adaptation studies also help us better understand cosplay because as Mountfort (2018, p. 33) mentions “A similar shift has occurred in adaptation studies, which has had to deal with the added dimension of translation across media.” Adaptation studies are incredibly aware of the changes that must be made when transitioning to a different medium. A good adaptation is one that should make changes appropriate for the medium regardless of accuracy to the original text. Cosplay then presents a complicated issue as complete faithfulness to the original text is in some cases impossible given the designs of characters from series that are popular to cosplay. However, adaptation studies show that a good adaptation is not necessarily accurate to the original text and this also applies to cosplay. A good cosplay may change an aspect of a character in a different way that ultimately makes the cosplay work better.

Reference

P, Mountfort. (2018). Planet Cosplay. Bristol, UK; Intellect Books.

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

The term cosplay refers to the popularized, and revered contemporary phenomenon of ‘costume play.’ With roots based in both American and Japanese culture, it involves the act of dressing up as a character separate from the individual, in respect to performing as the character from a popular media franchise (e.g. comics, animated/live action films, television, games, etc.). Mountfort et al. (2018), explain that cosplay in the present day is a form of mass cultural engagement, seen both off and online, and especially in events like manga/anime conventions, as well as within their own cosplay communities. It is mostly considered a type of performance art, as the individual attempts to shift their identity to the character they are ‘cosplaying’ through the use of costumes, accessories, even gestures and attitudes in a way to adopt the persona of the character. It can be considered that the individual inhabits the role of this character both physically and mentally.

Moreover, a distinguishing feature of cosplay from previous costuming practices such as those in carnivals, masquerades and theatrical performances, is that cosplay largely depends on source texts from new popular media, both in the east and west. As newer forms of media (e.g. comics) did not exist before the twentieth century, cosplay can be acknowledged as a result of modernity or postmodernity.

On the topic of citation, cosplay usually requires a source or reference text (known as a parent text), this is where the main inspiration for a cosplay begins, and mostly depends on a source of narrative text for its purpose, and for performing its citational act. This implies that through the use of cosplay, the cosplayer can actively produce or manipulate the canonical text. Cosplay can be citational as the image of the character is often detached from the original narrative of the text, converting the two-dimensional fantasies of a character to a three-dimensional living character, performed in real time. With that, cosplayers take these characters into their own narratives which is acted out using their own bodies. Some argue that cosplay is a kind of ‘static live performance adaptation’ of the iconic qualities of popular narratives found in some medieval European histories (like Shakespearean plays). This also involves the knowledge of the audience, as they are also aware of what is being cited (e.g. knowledge of who these characters are).

In some ways, cosplay’s citationality has similarities with referencing, as the familiarity of a cosplay audience with the original narratives when subjected to a cosplay performance, can prompt them to recall the original source narrative. The audience is just as important in the citational act as without them, the performance of cosplay cannot be carried out to its full extent. The three elements, the cosplayer, the text, and the audience all make up the experience of cosplay and adhere to its citational qualities.

References

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. ( 2018). Planet Cosplay. Intellect Books.