The History of Cosplay
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| Cosplay in Anime Los Angeles 2020 |
When attending a fandom convention, one of the first things that attendees notice at the convention is a cosplayer. Cosplay culture is a fun and passionate culture with a unique history and set of cultural norms. Within academia, the study of cosplay and cosplay culture is an emerging field, so there is not too much academic literature on the subject. This essay will explore the history of cosplay through academic literature in a literature review. We will explore the history of cosplay through the origins of cosplay in the United States and Japan, the name cosplay, and how the anime and manga form of cosplay came to the west and entrenched itself in the western fandom.
Japan and the United States are considered the two lands of origin for cosplay. Ito and Cruther (2013) argued that Japan had a long storied history of costuming and public performance, with traditions of Kabuki theater dating back to the feudal era, and the Takarazuka Theater Group founded in 1914. They argued that this cultural tradition led to the explosion of cosplay popularity in Japan. Rahman et al. (2012) claimed that cosplay started in Japan in the 1970s to promote doujinshi in Comiket. Across the ocean, in the United States, in the 1960s to 1980s, there were American fans dressing up as their favorite Star Trek, Star Wars, and Batman characters in science fiction conventions such as WorldCon. Depending on the author, this form of American cosplay became the original inspiration for anime and manga cosplay or at least inspired it in the United States (Domsch, 2014; Galbraith, 2013; Lamerichs, 2011; Ogonoski, 2013). When looking at the academic literature on cosplay, there is an explicit line of origin and no agreed line of succession.
Cosplay is a portmanteau of costume play, and all the scholars give credit to one man for creating this name, the contention is when the name cosplay started and the inspiration for that name. Winge (2006) said that Takahashi Nobuyuki attended the 1984 WorldCon
in Los Angeles, when writing about it, he focused on the costumed fans and the
masquerade show, because there was no masquerade in the Japanese language, he
created the word costume play, which got shorted to cosplay. This origin story
of cosplay was so popular that other academics cite this source and use it is
the origin story for cosplay (Lamerichs, 2011; Ogonoski, 2014). Yeinjee (2008)
challenged that narrative by saying that Takahashi Nobuyuki first used the word
in a June 1983 issue of My Anime magazine that had photos of Comiket
cosplayers. This predated his travels to the 1984 WorldCon in Los Angeles and
challenges the narrative first asserted by Winge in 2006. This got enough
notice that other academic research such as Rahman et al. (2012) argued that
the two dueling narratives mean that there is no concrete origin for the word
cosplay, the only commonality is that it came from one person.
While there is not much academic research
on cosplay, I hope that you can see the evolution of thought and the
differences of opinion on distinct types of cosplay history. There is a group
of academics who believes that cosplay started in Japan and evolved in Japan,
while others believe it started in America, got imported to Japan, and then
came back to America. Another point of demarcation is when Takahashi Nobuyuki first
used the word cosplay, again, the dispute is not the person who said it, but
what country inspired it. There is a side who argues that the word started from
his experiences in WorldCon Los Angeles, and the other side argues that the
word started from his writeup of Comiket before that. Hopefully, we see more
research on the history of cosplay so we can explain more about the differences
and try to put it in context.
Disclaimer:
This research is part of my cosplay presentation for the university I work in, I
posted this on my blog because I welcome any suggestions for additional scholarly,
peer-reviewed journals. Thank you for your contribution to scholarly research
on cosplay.
References
Domsch, S. (2014). Staging icons, performing storyworlds – From mystery play to cosplay. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Film and Media Studies, 9, 125–139.
Galbraith, P. W. (2013). Intersections: Cosplay, lolita and gender in Japan and Australia; An introduction. Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific 32.
Lamerichs, N. A. (2011). Stranger than fiction: Fan identity in cosplay. Transformative Works and Cultures, 7, 32.
Ogonoski, M. (2014). Cosplaying the media mix: Examining Japan's media environment, its static forms, and its influence on cosplay. Transformative Works and Cultures, 16.
Rahman, O., Wing-Sun, L., & Cheung, B. (2012). "Cosplay": Imaginative self and performing identity. Fashion Theory, 16(3), 317–341.
Winge, T. (2006). Costuming the Imagination: Origins of Anime and Manga Cosplay. Mechademia, 1(1), 65–76.
Yeinjee (2008). "Origin of the Word Cosplay." Yeinjee's Asian Blog. https://yeinjee.com/origin-of-the-word-cosplay/
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