Cosplay assemblage: reterritorializing Halloween affects in Chinese phygital cityscape

Abstract

This paper examines cosplay assemblages in the reterritorialization (that is, the transformation and local adaptation) of Halloween affects within Chinese phygital cityscapes, where physical cosplay landscapes are shaped by digital memes and, in turn, (re-)documented, (re-)created, and (re-)disseminated on digital platforms. Adopting a posthumanist theorization of affect, this study shifts the focus away from the humanist notion of the experiencer as a solitary, autonomous subject generating and controlling emotions entirely within the self. Instead, the non-human artifacts with which humans “intra-act” (that is, to co-create and shape each other without clear boundary within an assemblage) – including costumes, makeup, posters, and props in cosplay activities – are regarded as active agents that compel, facilitate, and enable affective and communicative engagement. Drawing on the concept of reterritorialization, this paper identifies three prominent affective territories manifested in the examined cosplay activities. These affective territories reveal how Chinese youth express, embrace, challenge, and accommodate their living conditions and the social status quo, illustrating the role that semiotic and material elements play in mediating and reconfiguring their attitudes, beliefs, ideologies and social power relations.