ABSTRACT
Cosplay, short for “costume playing”?, is a practice in which fans reenact existing fictional characters from popular culture. Through props, costumes, and even role-playing, fans transform themselves into well-known characters. The costumes are crafted by fans themselves and worn primarily at fan conventions. I outline the dress up of fictional characters as an affective process, inspired by philosophical theories and by Matt Hill’s work on fandom as an affective space. Affect will be analyzed here as a form of meaning making and contextualizing, and related to the results of qualitative interviews with cosplayers. The affects that are generated through cosplay are multiple and relate to the fan’s own body as much as the character, as well as the reception of the story.
