The Importance Of Comic Conventions

My discourse community ethnography will be over anime and comic conventions and the people who attend them as well as the culture surrounding and created by conventions. I have attended 13 of these conventions and been doing so for well over 4 years. Anime conventions are large gatherings created by and for people who enjoy anime (although they have expanded to also encompass other things such as movies, video games, cartoons, tv shows, etc, however the main focus continues to be anime). Anime are essentially Japanese animated cartoons. They have a very significant art style and are widely recognized all over the world. Anime became popular in the U.S around the early 1970’s, starting with the American release of “Astro Boy” in 1964. Conventions …show more content…
As places for having fun, enjoying the “nerdier” things in life and spending time with people who share the same interests as you, conventions are a one of a kind community. When I asked my friend Manar Soliman who has been going to conventions for the better part of 4 years why she involves herself in this community in particular, she answered “because I love the people, I love the atmosphere, I love the culture, I love everything. I think my involvement has given me happiness as well as a degree of open-mindedness I hadn 't had before”. For a lot of convention attendees conventions are a way to take a break from everyday life and escape into a world of colorful characters and adventure. This was the reason my friend Ian Buffum gave me when I asked him why he loves the community. “To have fun socialize and meet new people as well as use it as a break from daily life”. The number one rule or guideline at conventions is mutual respect for other convention goers and to have fun, which is why conventions make it so easy to just relax, be yourself and just take “a break from daily life”. The kind and open community conventions provide is an ideal one for people who otherwise wouldn’t be as open and social with other people, I myself have never felt more open and true to expressing myself as I have …show more content…
There are so many slang words and terminology that 's used amongst convention goers that people outside of the community wouldn’t understand. There are many terms but a few are things like ‘cosplay’ or ‘cosplayer’, referring to the costumes people wear to the convention as well as a person wearing the costume. A ‘commission’ can either be a piece of artwork that you pay an artist to make for you, or a costume or cosplay that you either can’t or don’t have time to make yourself that you pay an artist to make for you for a specific convention. ‘Glomp’ is basically a running jump hug where you run at the person and tackle them suddenly. This became popular due to its presence in anime itself but has become frowned upon to do at conventions as it’s seen as a violation of people’s personal space, property, and cosplay, as ‘glomping’ can damage people 's costumes that they may have spent a lot of money and time on. Lastly, ‘con plague’ is one of the less pleasant terms used. ‘Con plague’ refers to when you go to a convention and subsequently get sick due to your exposure to so many people in an enclosed area for so