Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular Culture

Having Pancasila as its ideology, with its first pillar of Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa (the belief in one deity), Indonesia is neither based on a certain religion, nor giving a privilege to a certain religion. In the context of the resurgence of religion, Islam obviously becomes the only normative in ev...

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Main Author: Kristi Kristi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IAIN Pontianak 2019-01-01
Series:Al-Albab
Subjects:
Online Access:http://jurnaliainpontianak.or.id/index.php/alalbab/article/view/1024
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author Kristi Kristi
author_facet Kristi Kristi
author_sort Kristi Kristi
collection DOAJ
description Having Pancasila as its ideology, with its first pillar of Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa (the belief in one deity), Indonesia is neither based on a certain religion, nor giving a privilege to a certain religion. In the context of the resurgence of religion, Islam obviously becomes the only normative in everyday life, including in popular culture. This paper analyzes the way Indonesian Christians see the representation of religion in sinetron, the television soap opera tat is considered the predominant form of popular culture in Indonesia, and negotiate their identity as religious minority. The work is based on a research project conducted in Gereja Kristen Jawa (GKJ/Christian Church of Java) Gondokusuman in Yogyakarta. A random survey about sinetron titles watched by the embers of the congregation show that eight titles are popular. A more intensive questionnaire is distributed to the church council as the representation of Christians who are active in church activities. It is also intended to show the most-watched sinetron in 2017. From the survey, there are two most watched sinetron: “Tukang Ojek Pengkolan” (TOP/Motorcycle-taxi Driver on the Corner) and “Dunia Terbalik” (DT/Upside-down World). Eighteen people who watch both TOP and DT then were interviewed. Using the framework of first generation of reception study, the work finds that Christians’ reception on the representation of religion in sinetron can be categorized into three patterns: mirror of reality, watching for pleasure, and religion is necessary. Those three patterns show that Christians’ reception is in negotiation position.
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spelling doaj.art-1e60f1ce06bf47a7aa7bc4d57ce1bd8d2022-12-21T18:51:41ZengIAIN PontianakAl-Albab0216-61432502-83402019-01-017213715010.24260/alalbab.v7i2.1024587Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular CultureKristi Kristi0Centre for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), Universitas Gadjah MadaHaving Pancasila as its ideology, with its first pillar of Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa (the belief in one deity), Indonesia is neither based on a certain religion, nor giving a privilege to a certain religion. In the context of the resurgence of religion, Islam obviously becomes the only normative in everyday life, including in popular culture. This paper analyzes the way Indonesian Christians see the representation of religion in sinetron, the television soap opera tat is considered the predominant form of popular culture in Indonesia, and negotiate their identity as religious minority. The work is based on a research project conducted in Gereja Kristen Jawa (GKJ/Christian Church of Java) Gondokusuman in Yogyakarta. A random survey about sinetron titles watched by the embers of the congregation show that eight titles are popular. A more intensive questionnaire is distributed to the church council as the representation of Christians who are active in church activities. It is also intended to show the most-watched sinetron in 2017. From the survey, there are two most watched sinetron: “Tukang Ojek Pengkolan” (TOP/Motorcycle-taxi Driver on the Corner) and “Dunia Terbalik” (DT/Upside-down World). Eighteen people who watch both TOP and DT then were interviewed. Using the framework of first generation of reception study, the work finds that Christians’ reception on the representation of religion in sinetron can be categorized into three patterns: mirror of reality, watching for pleasure, and religion is necessary. Those three patterns show that Christians’ reception is in negotiation position.http://jurnaliainpontianak.or.id/index.php/alalbab/article/view/1024religious representationpopular culturechristian identitynegotiation
spellingShingle Kristi Kristi
Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular Culture
Al-Albab
religious representation
popular culture
christian identity
negotiation
title Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular Culture
title_full Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular Culture
title_fullStr Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular Culture
title_full_unstemmed Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular Culture
title_short Sinetron Leads to Negotiation of Identity: Christian Identity and the Representation of Religion in Indonesian Popular Culture
title_sort sinetron leads to negotiation of identity christian identity and the representation of religion in indonesian popular culture
topic religious representation
popular culture
christian identity
negotiation
url http://jurnaliainpontianak.or.id/index.php/alalbab/article/view/1024
work_keys_str_mv AT kristikristi sinetronleadstonegotiationofidentitychristianidentityandtherepresentationofreligioninindonesianpopularculture