Soap Opera and Muddy Affairs in Indonesia

• Published in: Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde land- en volkenkunde, 2015, Vol.171 (4), p.455-488
• Main Author: Bosnak, Judith E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-2294; 2213-4379
• DOI: 10.1163/22134379-17104002

In May 2006 a devastating mudflow engulfed East-Java's densely populated area of Sidoarjo. Nine years later, the origin of the disaster still remains the topic of an ongoing scientific debate. Two opposing conclusions dominate: the catastrophe was either 'natural'-caused by an earthquake-or 'man-made', triggered by drilling activities of the oil and gas company Lapindo Brantas. Soon after the eruption of the mudflow, a Surabaya-based artists' association produced a Javanese-language soap opera called Gali lubang, tutup lubang, 'Dig a hole, fill a hole'. Several national and international newspapers described the television programme as a damage-control device, because the series was sponsored by the oil-and-gas-winning company implicated in the disaster. This article, however, shows that the series cannot simply be set aside as propaganda. A profound study of the production process and of the content of the soap opera-placed within the broader context of the (inter)national debate on the origin of the mudflow catastrophe-reveals the panorama of self-interests and cultural politics that gave shape to a controversial series about a controversial topic.