Representation of Agent and Structure of Indonesian Muslim Community in the Film “Bid’ah Cinta”

Abstract

There were two problems to be solved in this research. The first problem was the ideology of Islamic law practiced by Islamist individuals or groups to solve the problems in society. However, it often leads to clashes between individuals or groups in its structure. Second, Islamist individuals or groups used religious beliefs as a source of social (political) action by showing that social change is not based on agent routines, as Giddens argues in structuration theory. We illustrated these two issues in the text of "Bid'ah Cinta" (2017) film, directed by Nurman Hakim. The theory used was a combination of Giddens' structuration and the concept of Islamism. Meanwhile, the method used was van Dijk's critical discourse analysis using three tools: text, cognition, and social context. At the text level, this study used Peircean semiotics to identify icons, indexes, and symbols in the text. At the same time, we conducted the interview method to determine cognition and social context. The result was that religious beliefs encouraged agents to take action to bring about social change. This explanation contradicts Giddens's opinion. He said that social change was based only on agent routines and repetitive social practices that have access to rules and resources (structures). Examples of this were changing the practice of prayer, the prohibition of local Islamic traditions, and changes in the procedures for establishing social relations in the community. At the level of cognition and social context, the background of the filmmaker and the social situation in society determined the issues raised in the film, especially about the discourse of bid'ah (in a negative sense, akin to deviant), kafir (unbeliever), and the massive presence of Islamist groups after the New Order era.