In search of a “generation”: Mechanisms of cultural pattern formation in Polish cosplay groups, from the Early 21st Century to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Od początku XXI wieku do pandemii COVID-19

Abstract

Cosplay is a specific fan practice. Following John Fiske’s indicating a kind of enunciative productivity as focused on the performance of signifiers outside of fandom, it can be said to be doubly performative: as a form of cultural practice, but also as a mechanism for regulating the social life of the group. This article focuses on the relationship between the performative nature of Polish cosplay groups as formations existing within Polish fandom with issues of inheritance and generationality. After presenting the context for the emergence of Polish cosplay groups, the three dominants that emerged in the environment are identified. Next, the way in which social norms are regulated, in other words Schechner’s “restored behavior” inherent in their performative nature, are analyzed.