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• 23 déc 2019

  Paris

  Call for papers - Ethnology, anthropology

  Desired Identities

  New technology-based metamorphosis in Japan

  In Japan, the kyara-ka phenomenon, ‘transforming into a character’ (Aihara Hiroyuki, 2007) is now giving birth to what Nozawa Shunsuke (2013) calls ‘an emerging art of self–fashioning.’ Based on elaborate disguise techniques, the kyara-ka phenomenon covers a variety of communication strategies and practices: cosplay, kigurumi, Vtubing, utaloid voice banks, use of voice-image filters to upload videos where humans look like characters… Exploring all the aspects of this ‘thingification of humans’, the conference will reflect on how and why a growing number of people market themselves as characters. The conference goal is to address the complexity of issues raised by these voluntary and, perhaps, ironical acts of obliteration. What is the profile of men and women who transform themselves into computer-graphic creatures? How do they deal with being loved only through their digital alter-ego? What little or grand narratives are being produced alongside? Can we still deal with the phenomenon in terms of authenticity (original) versus artificiality (copy)? What negotiations or refusals underly the use of characters as social masks?

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