Review of Popular Culture in Indonesia

Review of Popular Culture in Indonesia: Fluid Identities in Post-Authoritarian Politics, (editor), London & New York: Routledge, 2008.

• 2012_Vol14-No2_WACANA-c
  “In the two chapters that Heryanto wrote and seven others that he edited, the book captures a crucial time in the country’s history as the Indonesian people received the utmost freedom to determine who they are. The book highlights not just how identity is indeed fluid (determined through various unfixed references, bent, and mould according to people’s wish), but most importantly, it confirms the play of identity politics in which various identities are contested and ideologies continuously compete with one another.”

  Review of the Indonesian version by Asri Saraswati, Wacana, 14 (2/October), 2012: 478-481.

• 2011_Vol12-No5_TAPJA-c
  “A very welcome contribution to the study of Indonesian popular culture.”

  Review by Ana Dragojlovic, The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 12(5), 2011: 501-502.

• 2010_Vol34-No4_ASIAN STUDIES REVIEW-c
  “This collection of essays, ably edited by Ariel Heryanto.”

  Review by Margaret Kartomi, Asian Studies Review, 34(4), 2010: 522-523.

• 2010_41_JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES-c
  “This book has productively raised the horizon of postauthoritarian Indonesian popular culture. Heryanto’s solid arguments, along with the other authors’ colourful studies are the warp and weft in the tapestry of emergent social relations in present-day Indonesia. This book should be worthwhile for any reader wishing to locate the meaning of popular culture in the wider socio-political framework of Indonesia and beyond.”

  Review by Shiho Sawai, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 41, 2010: 560-562.

• 2009_Vol82-No2_PACIFIC AFFAIRS-c
  “This collection offers a wealth of fresh thinking and perceptive studies of new developments in Indonesia’s rich and thriving popular culture. Scholars and students interested in cultural studies, or in the intersection of politics and culture, will want to read this book carefully.”

  Review by Michael Bodden, Pacific Affairs, 82 (2/Summer) 2009: 364-365.

• 2008_12_10_TJP Placing popular culture in serious contexts-c
  “Popular Culture in Indonesia; Fluid identities in post-authoritarian politics, edited by Ariel Heryanto, has an unusual appeal to it. The book promises a world where pop culture and politics not only intersect, but influence and leave marks on one another.”

  Review by Dewi Anggraeni, The Jakarta Post, 12/10/2008.