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9781783209569

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Little book-length scholarly analysis of cosplay has been published to date. [The authors] seek to remedy that in this multidisciplinary, internationally focused exploration, which draws from popular culture, media studies, gender and queer studies, literary and historical scholarship, ethnographic observation, and interviews. The first of the book's three sections examines the performance of cosplay: costumes as citation of cultural texts, the place of photography, and behavior at a cosplay convention. Section 2 analyzes the subculture of cosplayers: costuming as play, cosplay sites, and the ethos of costume creation. The third section situates cosplay theoretically and historically, discussing costuming antecedents and theoretical ties to queer identity and pornography. . . . The authors reveal cosplay as a process of becoming, of redefinition of identity in relation to the body. The study is ultimately laudatory of cosplay as therapeutic and empowering. The book includes color photos documenting examples of cosplay. . . . Recommended. --CHOICE

'While the academic study of cosplay has blossomed in the last decade, this book is the first scholarly monograph on the subject. [...] Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom is an excellent monograph. Its use of several different approaches to understand cosplay makes it a fine resource for the study of this intriguing practice.' -- Arienne McCracken, Fashion, Style and Popular Culture 'An effective primer for anyone looking to better understand the topic. [...] Where the book is particularly effective is in providing broader histories and working definitions for an under-researched area. While many accounts of cosplay begin with Takahashi's 1983 article, the first part of Planet Cosplay charts how costuming as characters from popular culture dates back over a hundred years. [...] This rounded approach enables the authors to position this under-analysed fan practice as an important site of cultural exchange, fluid identity and communal participation. Collectively, these perspectives make a persuasive argument that cosplay is worthy of sustained scholarly interest and that Planet Cosplay should provide a useful entry point for those hoping to take up that research.' -- Liam Burke, Journal of European Popular Culture

'An effective primer for anyone looking to better understand the topic. [...] Where the book is particularly effective is in providing broader histories and working definitions for an under-researched area. While many accounts of cosplay begin with Takahashi’s 1983 article, the first part of Planet Cosplay charts how costuming as characters from popular culture dates back over a hundred years. [...] This rounded approach enables the authors to position this under-analysed fan practice as an important site of cultural exchange, fluid identity and communal participation. Collectively, these perspectives make a persuasive argument that cosplay is worthy of sustained scholarly interest and that Planet Cosplay should provide a useful entry point for those hoping to take up that research.' -- Liam Burke, Journal of European Popular Culture 'While the academic study of cosplay has blossomed in the last decade, this book is the first scholarly monograph on the subject. [...] Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom is an excellent monograph. Its use of several different approaches to understand cosplay makes it a fine resource for the study of this intriguing practice.' -- Arienne McCracken, Fashion, Style and Popular Culture

'While the academic study of cosplay has blossomed in the last decade, this book is the first scholarly monograph on the subject. [...] Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom is an excellent monograph. Its use of several different approaches to understand cosplay makes it a fine resource for the study of this intriguing practice.' -- Arienne McCracken, Fashion, Style and Popular Culture

'An effective primer for anyone looking to better understand the topic. [...] Where the book is particularly effective is in providing broader histories and working definitions for an under-researched area. While many accounts of cosplay begin with Takahashi's 1983 article, the first part of Planet Cosplay charts how costuming as characters from popular culture dates back over a hundred years. [...] This rounded approach enables the authors to position this under-analysed fan practice as an important site of cultural exchange, fluid identity and communal participation. Collectively, these perspectives make a persuasive argument that cosplay is worthy of sustained scholarly interest and that Planet Cosplay should provide a useful entry point for those hoping to take up that research.' -- Liam Burke, Journal of European Popular Culture 'While the academic study of cosplay has blossomed in the last decade, this book is the first scholarly monograph on the subject. [...] Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom is an excellent monograph. Its use of several different approaches to understand cosplay makes it a fine resource for the study of this intriguing practice.' -- Arienne McCracken, Fashion, Style and Popular Culture

Author Information

Dr Paul Mountfort is Chair of the AUT Centre for Creative Writing where he has had a supervision role in over 40 postgraduate supervision projects. He is a founding member and Vice-President of PopCAANZ (Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand) and sits on the editorial boards of The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture (UK: Intellect) and IOFOR Journal of Asian Studies. His research interests include oracle-texts in popular culture, transmedia storytelling, street photography and cosplay. Dr Anne Peirson-Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, City University of Hong Kong. She teaches and researches fashion studies, fashion culture and communication, popular culture, advertising and branding and is currently researching the subject of Cosplay and youth fashion style in South East Asia with the aid of a Hong Kong Government funded research grant. Dr Adam Geczy is an artist and writer who is Senior Lecturer at Sydney College of the Arts, a Faculty of the University of Sydney. With twenty years of artistic practice, his video installations and performance-based works have been exhibited throughout Australasia, Asia and Europe to considerable critical acclaim.

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