Global Fandom Returns: Cendera Rizky Anugrah Bangun (Indonesia)

I dedicated my blog last year to the Global Fandom Jamboree — a series of conversations amongst scholar from many different nations about fandom and fandom studies. I have been gratified by the level of interests this undertaking generated. We are already seeing unexpected collaborations — from conference sessions to co-authored papers — emerge from the match-making that was required to make this series work. But there were still some outstanding (in both senses of the term) conversations still to be completed when the blog shut down for the summer. So I will be sharing a bit more consideration of the topic. Here’s a stand alone statement from Indonesia.

I’m an academic and a fan. How can you not fall in love with the music itself, with the chemistry between actors when watching movies, or when your favorite football club competes with another club during the football season?

Indonesia is known as the most populous Muslim country in the world, but that doesn’t mean that Indonesia only has one religion; the other religions are Buddhism, Christianity, Catholic, Hindu, Confucianism, and thousands of folk or beliefs in Indonesia. There are hundreds of languages spoken in Indonesia, most of them are locally used indigenous languages. In addition, various tribes live in Indonesia side by side every day. For this reason, it is not enough to see how popular culture lives in Indonesia in just 1-2 studies. There are so many traditional cultures in Indonesia, it is quite challenging to find the exact form of popular culture in Indonesia, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Many traditional cultures also influence the popular culture eventually. During the presidential Era, from President Soekarno, President Soeharto, until Presiden Joko Widodo, the popular culture has been shaped also by the socio political influence. For example, one of the pop culture that influence by this condition is Dangdut.

One form of Pop Culture that exists in Indonesia is Dangdut and Melayu (Pop) Music. Dangdut is a genre of Indonesian dance and folk music originated from Java island, Dangdut is partly derived and fused from Hindustani, Arabic music, and to lesser extent local folk music. The music itself become a “melting pot of cultures” as describe by Wreksono because it has the of Melayu, Indian, Arab, Chinese and European music mix in it. According to Frederick (1982), Dangdut is the kind of music defended by contemporary Indonesia's best-known popular entertainer, has been an enormous influence in much of the post-Sukarno period. Aimed directly at youth, it is dominated by a pulsating dance rhythm and a populist message, with both Islamic and secular variants. It plays a large role in creating a market for the mass media in Indonesia; made a mark on other areas of cultural activity, sparked open and often heated debate over the state of Indonesian culture; and given Indonesian Islam a new kind of public identity. It’s because through Soekarno’s Speech on August 17, 1959, during the Old Order, the Rediscovery of Our Revolution, which called for an attitude to protect national culture from foreign influences, gave birth to such a strict anti-Western policy. Radio broadcasts stopped broadcasting western music, all forms of western music were banned from performing and recording, the names of English-speaking bands and musicians were forced to change, and even young men with long hair were targeted for control (Quroatun'uyun, 2020). This condition then brought up regional music (under the influence of traditional music) to come to the surface; Bengawan Solo, Neng Geulis, Ampar-ampar Pisang, Ayam Den Lapeh, Sarinande, Angin Mamiri, and so on. This is the forerunner to the birth of dangdut music. Sukarno's claim to dangdut as Indonesia's native culture strengthened the counter action of western music that entered the homeland and even used the principle of political manifestations to dispel the onslaught of western music (Rhoma and Muhidin, 2008: 413; Andrew, 2006).

In his work, Weintraub (2006) stated that representations of Dangdut as the music of ‘the people’—the majority of society—have been produced with great frequency and in a variety of popular print media. Weintraub (2006) describe the ways in which popular print media ‘speaks for’ people, and the relations of power that define those discourses. Aside from love as a popular topic, dangdut also addresses social issues normally avoided by other genres (Weintraub, 2010). One of the Kings of Dangdut well known in Indonesia is Rhoma Irama. From the late 1970s, he began transforming into a more Islamic-oriented style, commanding the religiously pious popular music culture. He change his music style by not only began to cultivate a heavier, rocklike sound, but, moreover he determined to use his music to spread the word of Islam to the world.

During the height of his stardom in the 1970s, he was dubbed "Raja Dangdut" ("the King of Dangdut") with his Soneta Group. His Begadang album ranked No. 11 on Rolling Stone Indonesia's "150 Greatest Indonesian Albums of All Time" list. His main single "Begadang" reached number 24 on the magazine's "150 Greatest Indonesian Songs of All Time" list. His 1973 hit "Terajana", one of the best-known Dangdut songs, was the first to use the newly coined, term Dangdut, distinguishing the Javanese Orkes Melayu music, heavily influenced by Indian Bollywood records, henceforth Dangdut, from the established Orkes Melayu, associated with North Sumatran Malays. As Indonesia is the largest Muslim populated country, it is inevitable to experience Islam influence on some culture and arts. Rhoma Irama even took on a more explicit Islamic moral tone, adopting Islamic dress and shorter hairstyles, and ejecting band members who consumed alcohol or had extra-marital sex. He also resolved that his music should instruct, and not merely entertain, a form of devotion waged through music. Themes in his music included prohibition of extra-marital sex, government corruption, drugs, and gambling. The song "Haram" for instance, warns against both drugs and gambling, while the song "Keramat" asserts the instructions in Islam to honor mothers.

Weintraub found that the dangdut style changed following the development of people's tastes and media technology. The similarity in dangdut music is only in the aspects of the messages carried. Popular types of dangdut music carry collective messages, not individualist messages. Rhoma Irama's dangdut music brought a new awakening movement for Muslims in Indonesia. By bringing Islamic content in dangdut music, Rhoma became one of the public figures whose presence was felt by the community stronger than existing political figures. From that moment on, dangdut became a music that was able to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. At the same time, Muslim style in dangdut as social criticism, is comparable with individual attention to public morality.

Rhoma and his Soneta Band performance

Rhoma Irama fan art behind the truck

The development, shifting, and changes in Dangdut, from the music of the majority, to modern consumer culture is not only describes the political and cultural conditions of Indonesia but is more about economic, political and sociocultural practices. After the President Soeharto Era, on 2003, another Dangdut’ singer and dancer name Inul Daratista has become the talk of the day. With her so-called drill dance (goyang ngebor or goyang inul) she contributed to one of the most heated debates. Within a short period, a national debate exploded among politicians, Islamic clerics, celebrities, and local women’s groups on the question whether or not her performance was morally acceptable (Van Wichelen, 2005).

Inul doing a performance of her “Goyang Ngebor” on stage

Inul Daratista illuminates contemporary ‘body politics’, in which human bodies invested with diverse meanings and values have powerful implications for discourses about Islam, pornography, women’s bodies, state/civil relations in Indonesia, and changing forms of media. A woman’s body became the focal point for public debates about religious authority, freedom of expression, women’s rights, and the future of Indonesia’s political leadership. At the center of these debates was Inul Daratista, from East Java, whose dancing was described as ‘pornographic’ and therefore haram, forbidden by Islam. In the highly mediated sphere of popular culture, ‘Inulmania’ contributed to a new dialogic space where conflicting ideological positions could be expressed and debated. Inul’s body became a stage for a variety of cultural actors to try out or ‘rehearse’ an emergent democracy in post-Suharto Indonesia (Weintraub, 2008). Inul's appearance was even more heated when the King of Dangdut, Rhoma Irama did not want to be on the same stage with Inul, even in the same television program. According to Rhoma, Inul's ‘Goyang Ngebor” has violated the limits of fairness and degraded the nation's morale.

In the President Jokowi Era, another well-known Dangdut singer is Didi Kempot, a singer and songwriter in the Dangdut Campursari style. Originally, Campursari is the combination of two musical elements Keroncong and Javanese gamelan. Popular culture is often considered people’s culture (mass culture) that does not show a high culture. Another way to describe popular culture is a culture that is not cultured. Since popular culture is floating in most of society, which is unintentionally created by the community itself, it is excluded from people who have power (Storey, 2009). Dangdut Campursari is part of the pop culture that unintentionally created by the community itself. It was popularized again when Didi Kempot wrote songs mainly in his native Javanese language.

His fans call him “The Godfather of the Broken-Hearted" during his later years because vast majority of his songs are themed around heartbreaks and other sad love stories. In April 2020, he streamed a live charity concert from his house and raised a total Rp7.6 billion (~$500,000) to help Indonesians who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also released a song entitled "Ojo Mudik" ("Don't Go Mudik"), pleading for his fans not to go back home during the Eid al-Fitr holiday season to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. His fans are known as “Sobat Ambyar”. On one of the occasions in his state speech, Jokowi said that Sobat Ambyar could be a means to spread the Pancasila ideology. This is because many young people (Millennials generation) are fans of Didi Kempot, it is only natural that things favored by many groups are used as a tool to share an ideology. This condition is also essential to strengthen the voter base and give meaning to every campaign activity (Rusadi, 2015).

His fans mourned when he passed away. Even the President of Republic Indonesia stated in his Instagram post: “"I watched the charity concert by Didi Kempot to raise money for Covid-19 victims. He's also helped the government by telling his followers to cancel their mudik plans. This morning he passed away. My condolences to his family, his fans, all the 'sobat ambyar' ['broken-hearted friends,' another

Didi Kempot, The Godfather of Broken Heart
Source: Antaranews

Another singer name Nassar Fahad Ahmad Sungkar , or some people call him King Nassar or Oppa Nassar become one of the dangdut singers and because his personality is quite unique, people called him "Oppa Nassar Kiyowo". When McD presents "BTS Meal" and it's sold out it even creates chaos because even though we're still on Pandemic but the queue is very long, then people create fan art King Nassar as BTS Meal packaging just for fun. This shows how dangdut can also imitate modern cultures when it comes to fan production such as fan art as can be seen in the pictures below.

Nassar and fan art

Nassar and his fan art packaging meals

Another form of pop culture is Sinetron short for Sinema Elektronik (Electronic Cinema/Soap Opera) that you can watch on TV. One of the soap operas currently in demand, Ikatan Cinta has many fans: although the audience is dominated by housewives, many others also enjoy watching Ikatan Cinta. The behavior shown is not far from fans elsewhere: namely fans actively participate by visiting the shooting location, attacking other actors who are considered disturbing in the storyline, or even to disturbing the personal life of the actor concerned. However, television is one mainstream dominant media in creating fandom. Jenkins stated in his book that fans are segment of audience that are very active, who do not only reject or accept what is offer, but also demanding to become a full participant. Other example how Islam integrated in pop culture is when in Sinetron (soap opera), the family must be muslim, not the other religion. There are words that always appear such as, "Astagfirullah" ("I seek forgiveness in God") In popular culture, people can say this if they see something wrong or shameful. "Alhamdulillah" = "praise be to Allah", sometimes translated as "thank Allah". In shaa Allah = "if God wills", and many more. Sinetron is watched by most of the housewives, but all of them are Islam. but these words seem to be usual for them.

My first work about pop culture and fans was titled “Participatory Culture on BTS Army in Indonesia.” The object of this research was the South Korean boyband, Bang Tan Boys, also known as BTS. BTS is also considered as the future of K-Pop, and the symbol of globalization based on their achievement in Billboard Music Awards, which have so far been dominated by Western artists. In January 2021, Time Magazine featured BTS on their cover and dubbed BTS the “Entertainer of the Year” and the “Next Generation Leaders.” BTS’ fan base is named ARMY, the acronym for Adorable Representative MC for Youth, categorized as a militant-like group. Just like their name, ARMY has so far become the biggest fan club in South Korea, and other K-Pop loving countries including Indonesia. Fandom according to Jenkins transforms personal reaction into social interaction, spectatorial culture into participatory culture. One becomes a ‘fan’ not by being a regular viewer of particular program but by translating that viewing into some kind of cultural activity, by sharing feelings and thoughts about program content with friends, by joining a ‘community’ of other fans who share common interest” (Jenkins, 2006). ARMY fans in Indonesia use all aspects of participatory culture from affiliation, expression, collaboration, and circulation and they are doing so both personally and collectively. When they want their idol to notice their presence by changing all profile pictures or using the same color t-shirt when one of the idol is having a birthday, they did that collectively. Participatory culture shifts from individual expression to community involvement.

My next research dealt with fan practices on Twitter, how they create Social Media Alternate Universe (AU) about their idols. In addition to creating a sense of “closeness” with their idols, fan fiction can also provide a feeling of satisfaction for fans who want an ending or even a whole new world for their idols. Alternate Universe (AU) is a popular subgenre of fan fiction. Fan fiction usually has a long format platform such as Watt pad or Asian FanFic site. Now the trend is changing to social media platforms, especially Twitter. Local-based AU on Twitter are somehow more engaging than a story they read on the major fan fiction platform. Readers can easily share their thoughts, make comments and retweet the chapters they like. Writers also sometimes tried to fulfil the readers’ view on the story by creating a poll, involving the readers to choose the storyline. For the past years, many of Indonesia K-pop fans are enjoying local-based alternate universe content from their favourite group. Often the writers have even changed their idols name to be more Indonesian, for example K-pop idol Hyunjin from Stray Kids is Haris in the @eskalokal Twitter account, or K-pop female idol Yena from IZ*ONE is Yanti, a common Indonesian name in the @Wzonetrenggalek Twitter account. One of the fan fiction writer said that she likes to make the content more local because she finds it more comfortable. One of the reader said that when a writer makes the content local, it feels real. The changing platform of fan fiction is more suitable for the informants. It turns out that many fans who initially liked fan fiction using Watt pad or website switch to the social media alternate universe. Not only because their attention span has decreased, but also because the variations of the content make the new form of fanfic even more enjoyable. As they develop the personal relationship through social media fanfic, they like the local content better, because it is easier to understand. Through using the new names for their idols Indonesian fans feel more proximity with the idols.

I also have conducted a research about participatory culture amongst students with autism spectrum disorder. Because the anonymity in the world of internet, no one really knows if you are a person with disability or not. That is why those with autism still need to be supervised and mentored when accessing social media. When I did my research on ASD subjects, they should be accompanied by their therapists or parents, and most of the time the ones that answered my questions/or in FGD are their companions. So, sometimes it's difficult to know if it is really what they feel, or is it just because of their habit and that's why their companion can know about that. Even so, there are some questions that are answered by some of the autistic subjects. When they are obsessed with one thing (like one of the subjects really like trains or cats or idols) they will look it up really thoroughly just like any other fans. But it's quite hard for them to interact with each other when it's online. I hope we can have further discussion about this or other impairments. The technology itself does not provide enough accessibility for those who are disabled. From the point of view of teenagers with autism spectrum disorder, social media provides an opportunity for them to access information, because participation and access depend on each other. For example, collaborative problem-solving in fandom depends on differing degrees of access to information and a community that values differences in viewpoint. Most social media platforms assume mainstream users can use their tools but do not consider the needs of those with disabilities. These exclusions are particularly troubling given the potential of these spaces to stimulate engaged, active citizens of the world. We need more work to build a culture of inclusion and friendliness for persons with disabilities if we are to create more equal opportunities to everyone.

My latest work is “Kim Seon Ho, you are cancelled: the collective understanding of Cancel Culture”. In this research, research tries to explore the cancel culture phenomenon and how people give meaning to cancel culture regarding the celebrities that got cancelled. Cancel a celebrity can be beneficial or harmful form of social media activism.

Currently, I’m working on two papers about fan activism. The first one is about the participation of fans in online social networks. Networked fandom facilitates the use of a shared hashtag to coordinate interactions between fans and idols. Doing so enables people to join the activism even though they have never met and don’t know each other. The second one explores how K-Pop fans mobilize many people through small groups in each fan base to spread concerns amongst other fan bases. The same method is also used to ward off rumors or hoaxes, confronting disinformation and misinformation. In this way, fans are embracing a freedom of expression, criticizing rulers and defending themselves against criticism.

REFERENCES

Frederick, W. H. (1982). Rhoma Irama and the dangdut style: Aspects of contemporary Indonesian popular culture. Indonesia, (34), 103-130.

Qorib, F., & Dewi, S. I. The Phenomenon of Fans, Social Media, and Modern Campursari Music in Popular Culture. Pekommas.

Quroatun'uyun, Z. A. F. I. R. A. H. (2020). The Dynamics of Industrialization in Dangdut Music Culture on Television with CDA Concept. Ekspresi Seni: Jurnal Ilmu Pengetahuan Dan Karya Seni, 22(2), 17-31.

Rusadi, U. (2015). Penerimaan Makna dari Iklan Televisi da

Nassar and his fan art packaging meals