Marshall McLuhan perhaps never foresaw how the global village would one day become like a Malay village where a person’s code of morality was carefully circumscribed and their private life is everybody’s business. One aspect of the online Malay village is the exchange of saliva-inducing moral tut-tutting and cruel assassination of character between internet users… Continue reading On skodeng visual culture
Tag: Academia
Reader response criticism and sacred texts
Question: how useful is reader response criticism in understanding a community’s relationship with its ‘sacred texts’? In what ways does reader response criticism challenge the meaningfulness of the term ‘sacred’? A book does not read itself. Meaning does not happen when there is no one there to make it. Reader response (RR) criticism or theories… Continue reading Reader response criticism and sacred texts
On the viability of ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’ as categories in Malaysia
The first thing that would be useful when thinking about genders and sexualities in Malaysia is that the categories of ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’ are far from native and natural in the national language, Bahasa Malaysia. What is meant by ‘native’ and ‘natural’ refers to the fact that gender and sexuality are relatively recent loanwords. And… Continue reading On the viability of ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’ as categories in Malaysia
Derrida, the life of the philosopher, and the ‘biopic’
‘He was born. He thought. He died’ Heidegger on the ‘life’ of Aristotle A review of Derrida’s biography by Benoît Peeters in The Guardian today made me think about whether or not the biography is crucial or incidental to understanding a philosopher’s thought. Does knowing (or not knowing) about Derrida’s life enable us to… Continue reading Derrida, the life of the philosopher, and the ‘biopic’
Mainstreaming Islam in the Indonesian public sphere: Ummi Aminah as a case study
The film premiere of Aditya Gumay’s newest film, Ummi Aminah (Mother Aminah) in Jakarta last January 2012 was situated at the crossroads of events in Indonesian film industry. Prior to the screening of the film, the film director’s address to the audience expressed a plea to the public to consume locally-made films. As I write… Continue reading Mainstreaming Islam in the Indonesian public sphere: Ummi Aminah as a case study
‘Love’ mail I get
In this day and age, when you’re an academic it is always good to have information about your research interests published online. Who knows, you’ll get asked by the media to give your expert opinion on topics you know intimately about, prospective students become inspired by similar research and seek your consult, and then there’s… Continue reading ‘Love’ mail I get
Masculinity and sexual humiliation in Quickie Express
The following is a lecture about Indonesian masculinities and male sex work to accompany the film screening of Quickie Express by Dimas Djayadinigrat that I delivered for my class Sex and the City in Southeast Asian Cinema. Reading it through once again, I found to be rather scrappy and also, please pardon the occasional chatty… Continue reading Masculinity and sexual humiliation in Quickie Express
More thoughts on femininities in Indonesian Islamically-themed cinema
Empowered femininities? It is worth exploring the relationship between women and film religi in which female characters assume the role of boundary markers of nation and religion. The reference to women as markers of the boundaries of national ideology is a common theme in post-colonial nations-states, serving as symbolic representations in the rhetoric of inclusion… Continue reading More thoughts on femininities in Indonesian Islamically-themed cinema
Why I chose the path of academia despite sexist microaggressions and my own demons
First published on Kakak Killjoy If you’re a woman or girl and you have plenty of facts, ideas, and thoughts in your head it’s easier to keep them there. Once they come out, be prepared to be shot down in flames by people who think you’re showing off and trying to being pseudo-intellectual. Even comments… Continue reading Why I chose the path of academia despite sexist microaggressions and my own demons
Is there an emergence of new masculinities in Indonesia’s Islamic cinema?
When new femininities are introduced in the new wave of religious film-making, different strands of masculinities also emerge albeit in more implicit ways. Like heterosexuality, non-disability, and whiteness, masculinity is often referred to as ‘unmarked’ social category in which male dominance has been historically treated as the ‘norm’ while ‘gender’ is often taken to be… Continue reading Is there an emergence of new masculinities in Indonesia’s Islamic cinema?
Alicia Izharuddin 