Avatar of the self: Governing meta-body elaborated based on embodiments of consumption

Moura, Bruno Melo; Souza-Leão, André Luiz Maranhão de

doi:10.7819/rbgn.v26i01.4248

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Article • Rev. Bras. Gest. Neg. 26 (1) • 2024 • https://doi.org/10.7819/rbgn.v26i01.4248 copy

Avatar of the self: Governing meta-body elaborated based on embodiments of consumption

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the current study is to investigate how consumer performativity is enacted through embodiment transformation, based on the theoretical elaboration of the body in three dimensions, namely: resistance, utopia and desire.

Theoretical framework

Based on previous literature, the study proposes a theoretical framework when embodiment transformations – i.e., politics, pleasures, and affects – overlap through consumer performativity, evoking Foucauldian concepts to understand the dispositif sustained in a consumption ethos.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted by investigating the cosplay practice based on the use of an ethnographic Foucauldian genealogy.

Findings

The results evidenced three consumption embodiments based on dispositifs circumscribed amidst pairs of body dimensions: redemption, related to politics; reward, regarding pleasure; and rapport, about affection.

Practical & social implications of research

Presumably, these representations are evidence of an attempt to improve the body that represents the best way to experience this consumption ethos, which is herein called the "avatar of the self": a governing meta-body used to mediate consumption experiences through performativities.

Originality/value

Avatar of the self is an interpretation of the theoretical generalization of phenomena of consumption embodiment through performativities.

Keywords:
Cosplay; consumption embodiment; performativity; ethnography; Foucauldian genealogy

Ethnographic approaches	Data collection details	Data corpora details
Netnography	The four largest cosplay communities with interactions in English were selected for the research: "Cosplay," "Cosplay Help and Service," "Cosplay Extremists" and "Cosplay of a Certain Age." All four were launched between 2007 and 2017, with a minimum of 5,000 and a maximum of 50,000 members.	In total, 18,727 topics and 120,494 comments were taken into consideration and analyzed. Given the large amount of data, we selected some emblematic examples that can help us understand the nature of these netnographic interactions (Supplementary Data 1 - Appendix A_Netnography 6).
Ethnographic interviews	We found cosplayers from different countries who attended pop culture events in 2019 and posted photos on their Instagram accounts. Those with public profiles were sent a message inviting them to participate in a virtual interview, which could take place on their preferred communication platform (e.g., Skype, WhatsApp, Instagram or Mail). The protocol is available in Appendix B (see Supplementary Data 1 - Appendix B_ Interviews).	A total of 84 interviews with cosplayers from 27 countries were carried out between December 2019 and December 2021 and were transcribed into 364 pages. In order to protect the identity of some respondents, we selected 15 interviews (Supplementary Data 1- Appendix B_ Interviews 16).
Virtual ethnomethodology	Cosplayers' open-access Instagram profiles were monitored for their production of synchronous and asynchronous content. All profiles published content in three different languages (e.g., English, Portuguese and Spanish). Two types of content were taken into consideration. Synchronous posts – i.e., InstaStories – available to followers were captured using screen recording software. Asynchronous posts – i.e., InstaFeed – were archived at the end of every month between December 2019 and December 2021.	A total of 71 cosplayers from 18 countries were monitored, resulting in 2,435 InstaStories and 9,992 InstaFeed files. Given the large amount of data, we selected some emblematic examples that can help us understand the nature of these virtual ethnomethodological interactions (see Supplementary Data 1- Appendix C_Etnomethodology 5).
Autoethnography	Monthly diaries covering the period between 2019 and 2022 were prepared in text documents. In addition, spontaneous interactions about cosplay were transcribed and archived. These interactions came from both social networks – i.e., Facebook, Instagram – and information and communication technologies – i.e., WhatsApp – after the researcher published his cosplay performances. In addition, photos and videos published on social networks about cosplay were also archived.	The diaries consisted of 23 pages and 328 archived videos or photos. In addition, 36 publications on social networks were taken into consideration; third parties made 306 comments. Given the large amount of data, we selected some emblematic examples that can help us understand the nature of these autoethnographic interactions (see Supplementary Data 1- Appendix D_Autoethnography 23)

Discursive Formations
Correspond to broad bodies of knowledge derived from discourse regularities, indicating the concatenation of elements that support discursive practices, considering the social context and the epistemic conditions that allow the production, maintenance, and dissemination of knowledge. They can be identified through three criteria:
*Statements*		*Enunciative Functions*			*Rules of Formation*
Basic units of discourse, indicating its regularities; unveil concrete themes, temporally and spatially located, through the signs of language (e.g., texts).		Since discourses are practices, they evidence the purposes and actions of the statements, and also how they relate to each other.			Define the bases of discursive formations based on the convergence of regularities of the statements and their enunciative functions.
Power Operators
Represent the mechanisms that manifest exercises of power. They are inferred through discursive formations, on the basis of the discursive practices they evidence and the non-discursive practices inherent to them. They are observed through five criteria:
*Differentiation Systems*	*Type of Objectives*		*Instrumental Modalities*	*Forms of Institutionalization*		*Degrees of Rationalization*
Allow for the identification of singularities in the incidence of the same form of governance among different individuals and social contexts (e.g., linguistic or cultural differences, legal systems, and economic conditions).	Indicate the motivation for action by one agency over another, supporting or questioning the maintenance of social positions (e.g., privileges or status, professional practice, capital accumulation).		Point out how to operationalize the forms of governance, elucidating the instruments (e.g., word effects, surveillance systems, rules of control, material devices) through which it is possible to exercise power.	Explain the origin of the established power relations (e.g., social contexts, cultural values, legal and political rules).		Attest to the intensity of the effectiveness of the instruments of power (e.g., economic results, cultural and/or social movements, ideological legitimacy).
Power Diagrams
Elucidate the combination of discursive and non-discursive practices that establish instruments and institutions related to the forms of governance. They represent how power vectors work as productive forces. Consequently, they also indicate the conditions for exercises of resistance.
*Dispositifs*
Concern instances of power established in the social fabric, based on bodies of knowledge. They are inferred through the mutuality – i.e., power operators and discursive formations – between autonomous power diagrams.

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