Screen and faith: Mediatization of religion through docudrama
Article

The background of this current research is the shift in the pattern of fulfilling the need for religiosity. The purpose is to examine the mediatization of faith (religion) through media (docudrama). The research question is how docudrama mediatizes faith. The method applied was rhetorical criticism in communication research. This method signifies text and audience’s reception and corresponds to qualitative textual and reception analysis. This current research particularly adapted Jensen’s (2002) media-audience qualitative reception design. The procedure adapted from Frey, et al. (1999) included selecting Solusi docudrama and viewers’ comments on YouTube channel as data, describing themes by identifying elements and inter-relatedness among scenes, analyzing the salient ideas embedded within the themes, interpreting the narrative structure, and evaluating the persuasive force of messages supported by the viewers’ comments. The findings show that docudrama mediatizes religion by representing the interconnection of notions between religiosity-spirituality and individuality-community, the notions of religion in the dramatization frame, and by producing the audience’s pseudo model of reading. In conclusion, media (docudrama) mediatizes faith (religion) by representing the religious frames from a universal and psychic point of view. Mediatization of faith does not merely meet the needs for religiosity but alters the outlook of religion.

Abstrakt
Latar belakang dari penelitian ini adalah adanya pergeseran pola pemenuhan terhadap kebutuhan religiusitas. Tujuannya adalah untuk meneliti mediatisasi iman (agama) melalui media (dokudrama). Pertanyaan penelitiannya adalah bagaimana dokudrama memediasi keimanan. Metode yang digunakan adalah kritik retorika dalam penelitian komunikasi. Metode ini mensignifikasi teks dan resepsi penonton dan berkaitan dengan analisis tekstual dan analisis kualitatif terhadap resepsi. Penelitian ini secara khusus mengadaptasi desain resepsi kualitatif terhadap media-penonton dari Jensen (2002). Prosedur yang diadaptasi dari Frey, dkk. (1999) mencakup pemilihan dokudrama Solusi dan komentar penonton di saluran YouTube sebagai data, mendeskripsikan tema dengan mengidentifikasi elemen dan keterkaitan antar adegan, menganalisis ide-ide penting yang terkandung dalam tema, menginterpretasikan struktur naratif, dan mengevaluasi kekuatan persuasif dari pesan yang didukung oleh komentar penonton. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dokudrama memediasi agama dengan merepresentasikan keterkaitan gagasan antara religiusitas-spiritualitas dan individualitas-komunitas, gagasan agama dalam bingkai dramatisasi, dan dengan memproduksi model pseudo pada cara penonton memahami. Kesimpulannya, media (dokudrama) memediasi keimanan (agama) dengan merepresentasikan bingkai-bingkai agama dari sudut pandang universal dan psikis. Mediatisasi iman tidak hanya memenuhi kebutuhan religiusitas, tetapi juga mengubah tampilan agama.

Volume 21 Issue 01 · June 2024 · Regional Fabrics in Communication and Media · Main Article

Critical Pleasures: Reflections on the Indonesian Horror Genre and its Anti-Fans
Article

Drawing on ethnographic audience research carried out during 2013-2014, this article examines how young, urban, tertiary-educated Indonesians engage with the Indonesian horror genre. For most of these consumers, Indonesian horror films are the subject of ridicule and derision. With reference to Bourdieu’s theories of taste and distinction, I illustrate how the imagined “mass audience” of Indonesian horror functions as a symbolic “other,” emphasizing the cultural capital of more discerning, critical audiences. In exploring these audience members’ critical engagement with Indonesian horror, I also apply recent theories of “anti-fandom” that have come out of US cultural studies. There are many resonances between Indonesian anti-horror sentiment and US anti-fandom, but also some important divergences. I use these gaps and disjunctures as a departure point for reflecting on some of the challenges and opportunities of working at the intersection of Asian studies, media studies and cultural studies in the contemporary scholarly context.

Volume 12 Issue 02 · August 2015 · Locating Southeast Asian Horror · Main Article