Cosplay aesthetics

fans poach for a beautiful life

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2023.1.43130

Keywords:

cosplay, fans, aesthetics of existence, culture of the self.

Abstract

Cosplay is a practice of participatory culture that illustrates collaborative interactions between fans. The phenomenon is defined by the use of costumes to play pop culture characters. The cosplay occurs in the exchange between different fan communities (fandoms), providing the co-production of cultural experiences that arrange the various performances executed by cosplayers. The gathering of different performances reflects cultural performativities that can be understood as the exercise of resistance. Exercising resistance is one of the possible pillars for what Michel Foucault calls the subjectivation process in which we elaborate our subjectivity. In this sense, the study presents a theoretical essay that focuses on how cosplay allows its practitioners to produce their subjectivity: an aesthetic of the existence in their inter-fandom interactions. The essay evokes concepts established in interdisciplinary literature related to cultural studies to move forward and propose that the cosplay aesthetic as fans poach to live the beautiful life.

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Author Biographies

André Luiz Maranhão de Souza-Leão, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE, Brasil.

Doctor and master in Administration from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), in Recife, PE, Brazil. Professor of the Postgraduate Program in Administration at UFPE, in Recife, PE, Brazil.

Bruno Melo Moura, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE, Brasil.

PhD and Master in Administration from the University Federal District of Pernambuco (UFPE), in Recife, PE, Brazil; degree in Economic Sciences from same institution.

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Published

2023-09-26

How to Cite

de Souza-Leão, A. L. M., & Moura, B. M. (2023). Cosplay aesthetics: fans poach for a beautiful life. Revista FAMECOS, 30(1), e43130. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2023.1.43130

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 1 (2023): Single Volume

Section

Media and Culture

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