Academic accounts of fan cultures usually focus on creative practices such as fan fiction, fan videos, and fan art. Through these practices, fans, as an active audience, closely interpret existing texts and rework them with texts of their own. A practice scarcely examined is cosplay ("costume play"), in which fans produce their own costumes inspired by fictional characters. Cosplay is a form of appropriation that transforms and actualizes an existing story in close connection to the fan community and the fan's own identity. I provide analytical insights into this fan practice, focusing on how it influences the subject. Cosplay is understood as a performative activity and analyzed through Judith Butler's concept of performativity. I specifically focus on boundaries between the body and dress, and on those between reality and fiction. I aim to show that cosplay emphasizes the personal enactment of a narrative, thereby offering new perspectives on fan identity.

This article explores the subculture of cosplay, short for ‘costume play’. In this particular practice, fans create and wear costumes that allow them to re-enact existing fictional characters from popular culture. These outfits and subsequent performances are a physical manifestation of their immersion into the fictional realms of television, games and movies, among others. Cosplay can be understood as the culture of costuming that occurs beyond the institutional remit of the theatre. Especially in western countries, cosplay is intimately connected to the carnivalesque space of the fan convention, where fans gather and re-enact their favourite characters. I argue that embodiment plays a unique role in cosplay that should be interrogated closely. The fan performer relies on multiple bodies and repertoires that are intimately connected to the fan’s identity and the performed character.

The research has been made possible by the NWO program Cultural Dynamics. Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 90 8964 938 6 e-isbn 978 90 4852 831 8 doi 10.5117/9789089649386 nur 670

People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. Conclusion Conclusion: Prospects for Fan StudiesChallenges of an Emerging Field Ethnographic Approaches Core Concepts and Findings Fan Identity Future of Fandom Bibliography of Fan Works Bibliography Summary Curriculum Vitae ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank all academics, fans and informants who have participated in this study and helped give shape to Productive Fandom. The various chapters have been presented at different sites including research networks, conferences and fan conventions. The feedback of readers and listeners was integral to advancing this project. I would like to thank my colleagues at Maastricht University at Arts, Media and Cultures. In particular, I thank our NWO team on Narrative Fan Practices, headed by Karin Wenz. Our interests amounted to the conference MASH 2013 where I profited from presenting my results to like-minded scholars. Likewise, I am indebted to the colleagues at Center of the Study of Digital Games and Play at Utrecht University where I resided as a guest lecturer for the Master in New Media and Digital Cultures. My office pals -Karlijn, Koen, Miranda and Kim -also supported me with their ethnographic expertise. Different research networks were vital to this project, in particular the Organization of Transformative Works (OTW), the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) and the Fan Studies Network (FSN). Their online support and conferences provided me an academic home. On a local level, the National Research School for Gender (NOG) and the Research School for Media Studies (RMeS) guided me through the research process. The annual Under the Mask conference for the study of play was another platform where I could present my work as early as 2010. I also profited from fan studies conferences held by ASCA, Interdisciplinary.net and the conference Narrative Minds and Virtual Worlds. I would like to thank the editors, reviewers and authors of the edited volumes and journals to which I contributed outcomes and selections of this book: Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom (Stein & Busse, 2013); The Compan...

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