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Passing and Conversion Narratives: Ayat-Ayat Cinta and Muslim Performativity in Contemporary Indonesia
- Source: Asian Cinema, Volume 21, Issue 2, Sep 2010, p. 69 - 90
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- 01 Sep 2010
Abstract
The success of Ayat-Ayat Cinta (The Love Verses, 2008), a major box office Islamic themed film, was one of the key moments of Islamic hype in Indonesia after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998. Based on the best-selling novel by Habiburrahman El Shirazy, the film broke the record of Indonesian cinema after 10 years by attracting more than four million people. With an audience ranging from political elites to students of Islamic boarding schools, it exemplifies the dominant Islamic visibility in popular culture after a long suppression of Islam under Suharto’s dictatorship. Some Indonesian Muslims view Ayat-Ayat Cinta positively as a moving melodramatic tale that attempts to spread dakwah (Islamic teaching), yet the film has triggered various debates in the public sphere.