Islam and Local Culture: The Peril of State Violence and Hallyu Fandom in Indonesia (With Reference to Palestine)

Ingyu Oh: Korea University

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/

Abstract

The invasion of Hallyu (or the Korean Wave) subculture in Indonesia created a new pattern of gendered cultural consumption in the largest Islam country in the world. The most ardent Hallyu supporters in Indonesia are women who are organizing massive urban fan gatherings, K-pop concerts, and group tours to Seoul. With a long and devastating record of state violence on Marxists, Chinese, and women in general, current public tolerance to Hallyu by the Indonesian government seems flimsy as female Hallyu fandom is threatening the mainstream Islamic value of feminine subservience. Although the strength of the local culture vis-à-vis Islam in Indonesia allowed an easy invasion of Hallyu into the country, the gender divide in the consumption of Hallyu is providing the Islam leaders with an easy excuse for possible state violence against women. Unlike Islamic, Western, and Japanese culture that are widely popular in the country, Hallyu’s salient feminine following invites jealous and alarmed reactions from Indonesian Muslim males. As the Japanese and Chinese anti-Hallyu sentiments among the male population led to massive outbreaks of anti-Korean hate speeches and demonstrations against the Korean residents and Hallyu promoters in the two countries, this paper analyzes how the female fans in Indonesia and Palestine are reacting to such threats.

Keywords

Anti-Hallyu sentiments, Hallyu, Indonesia, Islam, local culture, state violence

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Kritika Kultura
Department of English
School of Humanities
Ateneo de Manila University

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International Board of Editors

Jan Baetens
Professor
Faculty of Arts
Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (Belgium)

Joel David
Professor of Cultural Studies
Inha University (South Korea)

Michael Denning
Professor of American Studies and English
Department of English
Yale University (US)

Faruk
Faculty of Cultural Sciences
Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)

Regenia Gagnier
Professor of English
University of Exeter (UK)

Leela Gandhi
John Hawkes Professor of the Humanities and English
Brown University (US)

Inderpal Grewal
Professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies
Professor of South Asian Studies, Ethnicity, Race and Migration Studies
Yale University (US)

Peter Horn
Professor Emeritus and Honorary Lifetime Fellow
University of Cape Town (South Africa)
Honorary Professor and Research Associate in German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

Anette Horn
Professor of German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

David Lloyd
Distinguished Professor of English
University of California, Riverside (US)

Bienvenido Lumbera
National Artist for Literature
Professor Emeritus
University of the Philippines

Rajeev S. Patke
Director of the Division of Humanities
Professor of Humanities
Yale NUS College (Singapore)

Vicente L. Rafael
Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor of History
University of Washington (US)

Vaidehi Ramanathan
Department of Linguistics
University of California, Davis (US)

Temario Rivera
Professorial Lecturer
Department of Political Science
University of the Philippines

E. San Juan, Jr.
Philippines Studies Center (US)

Neferti X.M. Tadiar
Professor of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Barnard College (US)
Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race
Columbia University (US)

Antony Tatlow
Honorary Professor of Drama
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)