Att vara eller icke vara? : En studie om costume play - att tillfälligt bli någon annan

In this study has costume play (cosplay abbreviated) been analysed in relation to identity. Continuesly, cosplay will be used in this thesis. Other inflections of the word will also appear, such as cosplayare, which is a person who is doing cosplay.Today there is a media landscape with participatory culture and the consumer can also be the producer. A person who chooses to dress up as a character (usually from a manga or an anime) is called a cosplayer. Their mediated fantasies have become reality through cosplaying. The purpose of this study is to find out why people choose to temporarily become someone else by cosplay and how it affects their individual identity. There have been eight semi-structured interviews with respondents from Örnsköldsvik Manga Club (ÖMF) and they are active cosplayers.The results of the study have shown that those who are doing cosplay do it to step out of their civilian I and into theirs cosplay I and become a character - temporarily. It's a break from reality and a chance to recover new strength to cope with everyday must-haves, pressure and expectations. Cosplay is not only entertaining, but also provides space for its practitioners to be creative and spend time with likeminded people.A person has multiple identities at the same time such as being mother, sister and teacher. Together they constitute the overall identity. The cosplay self is a part of it and can to some extent provide the cosplayer courage.Validerat; 20140904 (global_studentproject_submitter