Islamic Modernities in Southeast Asia: Exploring Indonesian Popular and Visual Culture

What does it mean to be a modern Muslim today? In contemporary discourse Islam and modernity are often presented as each other's opposites in media and popular culture.

Islamic Modernities in Southeast Asia will demonstrate how new Islamic modernities are being negotiated and constructed through popular and visual culture. With a focus on Indonesia – a country that houses the world's largest Muslim population that is also undergoing rapid modernization – the book explores what it means to be both modern and Muslim. Southeast Asia has a large Muslim population, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore but Islamic culture in these states is conspicuously absent from the wider global discourse. Looking at a variety of Islamic-themed popular culture including rock music, cinema, art, self-help books, festivals and fashion blogs it explores how Islamic modernities are imagined, negotiated, contested and shared.