Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia (Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia)

Home to approximately one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population, Indonesia and Malaysia are often overlooked or misrepresented in media discourses about Islam. Islam is a religion but there is also a popular culture, or popular cultures of Islam that are mass mediated, commercialized, pleasure-filled, humorous, and representative of large segments of society. During the last forty years, popular forms of Islam, targeted largely towards urbanized youth, have played a key role in the Islamisation of Indonesia and Malaysia. This book focuses on these forms and the accompanying practices of production, circulation, marketing, and consumption of Islam. Dispelling the notion that Islam is monolithic, militaristic, and primarily Middle Eastern, the book emphasizes its dynamic, contested, and performative nature in contemporary South East Asia. Written by leading scholars alongside media figures, such as Rhoma Irama and Ishadi SK, the case studies although not focused on theology __per se__, illuminate how Muslims (and non-Muslims) in Indonesia and Malaysia make sense of their lives within an increasingly pervasive culture of Islamic images, texts, film, songs, and narratives. Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Introduction: The Study Of Islam And Popular Culture In Indonesia And Malaysia -- 2. Negotiating Mass Media Interests And Heterogeneous Muslim Audiences In The Contemporary Social-political Environment Of Indonesia / Andrew N. Weintraub -- 3. Multiple Islams, Multiple Modernities: Art Cinema In Between Nationhood And Everyday Islam In Bangladesh And Malaysia / Ishadi S.k. -- 4. Upgraded Piety And Pleasure: The New Middle Class And Islam In Indonesian Popular Culture / Zakir Hossain Raju -- 5. Music, Islam, And The Commercial Media In Contemporary Indonesia / Ariel Heryanto -- 6. Internet, Cyber-religion, And Authority: The Case Of The Indonesian Liberal Islam Network / R. Anderson Sutton -- 7. Sex Sells, Or Does It? Discourses Of Sex And Sexuality In Popular Women's Magazines In Contemporary Indonesia / Muhamad Ali -- 8. (un)framing Muslim Sexuality In Dina Zaman's I Am Muslim / Sarah E. Krier -- 9. Sexing Islam: Religion And Contemporary Malaysian Cinema / Washima Che Dan -- 10. Musical Modernity, Islamic Identity, And Arab Aesthetics In Arab-indonesian Orkes Gambus / Noritah Omar -- 11. Music As A Medium For Communication, Unity, Education, And Dakwah / Birgit Berg -- 12. Taking Liberties: Independent Filmmakers Representing The Tudung In Malaysia / Rhoma Irama -- 13. Holy Matrimony? The Print Politics Of Polygamy Indonesia / Gaik Cheng Khoo -- 14. Pop, Politics And Piety: Nasyid Boy Band Music In Muslim Southeast Asia / Suzanne Brenner. Edited By Andrew N. Weintraub. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Islam is a religion but there are also popular cultures of Islam that are mass mediated, commercialized, pleasure-filled, humorous, and representative of large segments of society. This book illuminates how Muslims (and non-Muslims) in Indonesia and Malaysia make sense of their lives within an increasingly pervasive, popular culture of Islamic images, texts, film, songs, and narratives.