Department of Media and Information Faculty of Media, Society and Culture Watching Indonesian Sinetron: Imagining Communities around the Television Rachmah Ida This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Curtin University of Technology September 2006 i Declaration To the best of my knowledge and belief this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgement has been made. This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. Signature: Rachmah Ida Date: 30 September 2006 ii Abstract This thesis is about the everyday cultural practices of communal television viewing by urban kampung people. It challenges the institutional frameworks and constructs about the television audience. To achieve this, the thesis looks at the cultural context of the television set and its uses in urban kampung households and the neighbourhood system. Studies on urban kampung community in Indonesia so far have focused on the socio-economic and cultural practices of the people in relation to state ideological matters (e.g. Guinness, 1989; Sullivan, 1994; Brenner, 1998). This thesis is an attempt to extend the investigation about the cultural practices of the kampung community in relation to media use in the era of competitive private television in the early 2000s. As those kampung people have existentially engaged in fashioning their own lives neither as rural subjects nor urban/city subjects, their narratives in responding to televised images and representations (of women in particular) shape the particularity of the cultural scene of these marginalized subjects. Taking up their social economic background and the particularities of socio-cultural circumstances of the kampung, this present study takes a close look into the day-to-day communal viewing practice of the kampung female viewers of the most-watched local program on Indonesian television, that is sinetron (television drama). Extending the argument of Ien Ang and others into the Indonesian context, the thesis concludes that the national television audience as a unified, atomistic and controllable entity, as is institutionally imagined, does not exist. Rather, watching television, particularly among the urban middle to lower class community, is a discursive practice overwhelmingly showing the diverse, particular, and unpredictable attitudes, which challenge the account of ‘the audience’ that characterises the industry, the state and, ironically, also the intellectual critical knowledge producers. iii Acknowledgements The acknowledgement page, mostly written at the end of the journey of the writing process, seems to have become an obligatory academic ritual to mention colleagues, institutions, clients, and friends whose support and encouragement made the study possible. However, within the boundaries of the formal academy environment, this page is significant and meaningful in helping us to continue imagining ourselves as a scholarly and independent community. Here, it is important for me to convey how deeply I appreciate those who have so generously supervised, guided, taught, and volunteered to support me during the four years of my doctoral candidature. Their support and encouragement are all very precious for the completion of this thesis. I would tender my heartfelt gratitude, first and foremost, to my supervisor, Prof. Krishna Sen. I am a truly fortunate Indonesian student, having the opportunity to work under her supervision and learn directly from her expertise and critical insight on media, politics, society and culture of Indonesia. Her international reputation, many times, has privileged me both in Indonesia and in international conferences and academic forums that I have been engaged with. Particularly, her reputation among great scholars and prominent film and television makers, producers, and media officials in Jakarta smoothed the way for my fieldwork there. Her critical comments, challenging questions and enduring encouragement have become a very precious gift enabling me to learn and become an independent research student. I would like to thank Dr. Paul Genoni of the Faculty of Media, Culture and Society, and A/Prof. Barbara Milech and her team in Humanities Graduate Studies Office such as Daniel Griffin and Alicia Higgins, for administrative support. I also thank Wendy Sahanaya, who deserves appreciation not only for assistance with language, but also for friendship and encouragement through every stage of this present work. Ausaid Liaison Officers of Curtin University of Technology, Deb Pyatt, Julie Craig and Carolyn Mascall, all contributed a great deal to my study and my life during four years in Perth. They have provided constant assistance, not only for the success of my study, but also helped me deal with personal and family matters. Therefore, I am really grateful to them. iv The very significance and important parties are the residents of kampung Gubeng in Surabaya with whom I spent my time during the fieldwork and from whom I gathered information and data for this study. This present work would not be possible without their warm, friendly acceptance and their openness. My special appreciation goes to Pak Sirun and his wife, Bu Titin, who provided me a room and kind hospitality during my four month stay at the kampung . This couple and a friend of mine, Yuni Uyung, were the “key persons” enabling me to enter and become familiar with the kampung’s residents, the style of life, and common kampung culture. I also thank Titik, who assisted with my research in the kampung. To all of them, I would like, from the bottom of my heart, to say, “Thank you very much indeed.” I should also thank to Pak Ishadi, Mas Garin Nugroho, Mas Veven Wardhana, Mas Bimo Nugroho, Pak Rachmiadi, Mas Teguh Juwarno, Pak Gufron Sakaril, Mas Haryanto, and Pak Imam Tauhid, who were kind enough to welcome me and give their time to talk, be interviewed, and supplied me with bulk TV rating data and programming information. My thanks also go to Bang Ade at PDAT Tempo, Mas Sulaeman at research and documentation department of Tabloid Bintang Milenia, Friends in Jakarta like Widjajanto, Mimin, and Ermia, who provided a home for me in Jakarta and entertained me whenever I was stressed and exhausted from dealing with important and busy people. My colleagues Suko Widodo and Yayan Sakti were so generous and made their room at rumah kos Salemba Tengah in Jakarta available to me for two months. To Wishnu, who assisted me during the fieldwork in Jakarta; thank you. I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to friends for their insights on ideas I was developing for the present thesis. To Dr. Yazid Basthomi, a very productive friend, whose comments and suggestions on my initial candidacy draft sparked my thinking and enabled me to sharpen my research focus; thank you. My friend Budi Irawanto and those postgraduate students, the occupants of room 208.228A: Denise Woods, Mbak Sandra Sudjujudi, Tod Jones, Petrina Leo, and particularly, to the new comer, I.G.A.K. Satrya Wibawa, thank you for all your help in the last stage. v My colleagues in the Department of Communication Sciences, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Yuyun Surya, Henry Subiakto, Murdijati and Yan Yan, receive my gratitude for giving me free rein to pursue my doctoral study in Australia, during which time they were able to relieve me of the encumbrance of the so-called ‘government tasks’. I also express my gratitude to my husband, Herry Juliartono, whose encouragement, support and companionship in Australia have proven a significant investment for the completion of my study and our daughter, Zahra Aisya, who has grown up with books and papers, has freshened and coloured my life as a doctoral student and Mum. Thus to these two persons, I would like to affirm, “This piece is dedicated to you. Thank you! ” Perth, March 2006 Rachmah Ida vi Notes on Spelling and Translations This thesis uses the Indonesian spelling standard (EYD) applied since 1972. This standard is followed for Indonesian words, including personal names and titles of publication, with one exception: personal names throughout the thesis are spelled according to the preferences of the person named, and Indonesian names of authors in non-Indonesian publications are spelled in accordance with the publication. Indonesian sources in the forms of both interviews and publications are cited in English translation throughout the thesis. Unless otherwise indicated, the translations are mine. vii Table of Content Abstract i Acknowledgement ii Notes on Spelling and Translations v Table of Content vi List of Tables x List of Figures xi Chapter One – Introduction: Studying Television and Viewing Practices in Contemporary Indonesia 1 A Perspective on the Indonesian Television Audiences 1 Backdrops 5 6 Television Viewing and Class Cultures in Indonesia Theoretical Underpinnings and Review of Literatures 9 9 Media as Cultural Experience 11 Studying Audience and the Encoding/Decoding Process 15 Audience Ethnography in Communication and Media Studies Media/Cultural Studies and Ethnography Tradition in 17 the Contemporary Indonesian Context 19 Social Sciences and Communications Science as Indonesian Practices 26 Media/Cultural Studies and Media Anthropology: New Terrain in Indonesian Context The Choice of the Kampung as a Site of Fieldwork 29 Urban Kampung Community and the Everyday Life of 29 the Marginal 32 Studies of Surabaya and Its Kampung Method, Position, and Limitation