Offline Third Spaces: Anime Conventions as Sites of Desire
The local and global communities of anime interact in a multitude of fashions and through a variety of media. Images, in particular, are exchanged through both digital media and offline gatherings. While the fifth section will examine the youth's participation on digital frontiers, this section focuses on the latter of the two locales of popular anime culture exchange, with an emphasis on large-scale anime and manga conventions as third spaces in which fans can gather and interact with one another.
But what are these third space and how are they differentiated from the “first” and “second” spaces? American urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg defines the first and second spaces as the “home” and “workplace,” two already-established collectivities within society. Third spaces, in contrast, are spaces of “psychological comfort and support,” (Chee 2006) and facilitate further social and creative interactions that cannot occur in the first two spaces. These social settings create a laidback and informal atmosphere, providing low-expensive goods or services, and accessibility –newcomers and regulars sharing common interests are able to meet and interact, unfettered by social obligations they must follow in the first two spaces.
Anime conventions such as Japan's Comiket and the United State's Anime Expo, present an assortment of events and spaces tailored to fans of the subculture. These include cosplay meet-ups, in which fans dressed as characters from the same franchise can gather, take group photos, and discuss their favorite shows; merchandise booths that sell original works (in the case of doujinshi, fan-comics created by groups of dedicated fans, or general "artist alleys," where artists sell prints of their illustrations), or official merchandise (often imported from Japan, if the convention is not in Japan); and other events such as game tournaments, viewings of popular anime, and even panels featuring creators from the entertainment industries. Though other, smaller conventions also host similar events, there are fewer available features, albeit with an overall, more intimate atmosphere.
Conventions represent the pinnacle of fan consumption of anime, concentrating as much content as possible within the brief period of the event. Within the space and time frame of these conventions, uninhibited expression of subcultural euphoria that is usually condemned in the dominant culture becomes possible. Whereas cosplay provides the process by which individuals can remove themselves from the reality imposed upon them by their lives in the first and second spaces, conventions offer the physical and mental space where fans can safely assume other personas, re-imagine their own identities, and – together with others pursuing similar social possibilities– defy the normalized spaces that encompasses their daily lives.
But what are these third space and how are they differentiated from the “first” and “second” spaces? American urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg defines the first and second spaces as the “home” and “workplace,” two already-established collectivities within society. Third spaces, in contrast, are spaces of “psychological comfort and support,” (Chee 2006) and facilitate further social and creative interactions that cannot occur in the first two spaces. These social settings create a laidback and informal atmosphere, providing low-expensive goods or services, and accessibility –newcomers and regulars sharing common interests are able to meet and interact, unfettered by social obligations they must follow in the first two spaces.
Anime conventions such as Japan's Comiket and the United State's Anime Expo, present an assortment of events and spaces tailored to fans of the subculture. These include cosplay meet-ups, in which fans dressed as characters from the same franchise can gather, take group photos, and discuss their favorite shows; merchandise booths that sell original works (in the case of doujinshi, fan-comics created by groups of dedicated fans, or general "artist alleys," where artists sell prints of their illustrations), or official merchandise (often imported from Japan, if the convention is not in Japan); and other events such as game tournaments, viewings of popular anime, and even panels featuring creators from the entertainment industries. Though other, smaller conventions also host similar events, there are fewer available features, albeit with an overall, more intimate atmosphere.
Conventions represent the pinnacle of fan consumption of anime, concentrating as much content as possible within the brief period of the event. Within the space and time frame of these conventions, uninhibited expression of subcultural euphoria that is usually condemned in the dominant culture becomes possible. Whereas cosplay provides the process by which individuals can remove themselves from the reality imposed upon them by their lives in the first and second spaces, conventions offer the physical and mental space where fans can safely assume other personas, re-imagine their own identities, and – together with others pursuing similar social possibilities– defy the normalized spaces that encompasses their daily lives.
References
- Oldenburg, Ray. 1989. The Great Good Place. Boston: De Capo Press, 1999.
- Chee, Florence. "The Games We Play Online and Offline: Making Wang-tta in Korea." Popular Communication 4.3. 2006: 225-39.
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