The Esthetics of Cosplay

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate cosplay—an activity in which participants wear costumes to portray a fictional character. Firstly, I conceptually distinguish cosplay from onstage acting, child pretend play, and similar cases. I argue that cosplay is based on self-oriented perspective-taking and is more committed to the character than pretend play but less committed than onstage acting. Subsequently, I argue that cosplay is a type of hybrid art or a hybrid of art forms—a combination of photography, dramatic acting, and fashion performance.

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