Making Sense of the Past & Present: Islamic Comic Books in Indonesia, 1965 - 2007

Abstract

The reason a study of Islam is chosen among many other possible subjects that are depicted in Indonesian comic books is because over time, Islam has come to constitute a definable genre within the Indonesian comic book and publishing industry. Islamic comic books contain a set of guidelines on style and narrative that is often used and reused by comic writers and publishers to represent issues related to Indonesian Muslims in comic book form. More pertinently, the history of the development of Islamic comics provides important insights into understanding Indonesian Islam from the perspective of ordinary Indonesians. By interpreting comic books as history, the thesis will argue that Islamic comic books tend to appear and gain momentum during historically significant times when the problem of what constitutes the Indonesian nation is intensely questioned.