Open AccessSelf-identification in Malaysian cosplay
Author(s) -
Eriko Yamato
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
transformative works and cultures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1941-2258
DOI - 10.3983/twc.2020.1771
Subject(s) - identification (biology) , dilemma , art , visual arts , philosophy , biology , epistemology , botany
To examine cosplay (costume play) as performed by non-Japanese cosplayers, video interviews were conducted at five Japanese popular culture conventions in Malaysia. Analysis of descriptions made by 158 cosplayers reveals cosplay to function as a medium for the process of self-identification. Cosplay enables Malaysians to explore individual rather than collective identities and to experience fluidity and dilemma in self-identification as they translate fictional characters into their physical world. Although ethnicity seems not to prevail in their cosplay, it appears not to have totally vanished.