Ideology and Politics of Adaptation: A Critical Reading of Laskar Pelangi and Dilan 1990 as Cultural Texts

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_44How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Literary Adaptation; Ideology; Critical Cultural Studies; Indonesian Cinema; Laskar Pelangi; Dilan 1990; Politics of Representation

Abstract

The adaptation of literary works into films is a complex cultural practice, not merely a transfer of narrative medium. Popular film adaptations have the power to shape collective consciousness. Adaptation is often viewed as a neutral process, when in fact the choices made during the adaptation process are laden with ideological implications that can alter the message of the original text. This study aims to analyze the ideological and political dimensions in the film adaptations of two best-selling Indonesian novels, Laskar Pelangi and Dilan 1990. This study is important for understanding how popular culture acts as a field of negotiation of meaning, identity, and power in the context of contemporary Indonesian socio-politics. This qualitative research uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) within the framework of cultural text studies. The data is analyzed by comparing the novel and film texts to reveal ideological negotiations. The adaptation of Laskar Pelangi romanticizes poverty and supports the ideology of developmentalism, which emphasizes individual meritocracy. Meanwhile, the adaptation of Dilan 1990 uses nostalgia to romanticize the New Order era and reinforce hegemonic masculinity and traditional gender roles. This study contributes to academic discourse by applying a multidisciplinary theoretical framework that includes Cultural Studies, ideology theory, and CDA to analyze film adaptations as socio-political acts.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Mulyo Hadi Purnomo
AU  - Putri Clara Agustine Marbun
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/19
TI  - Ideology and Politics of Adaptation: A Critical Reading of Laskar Pelangi and Dilan 1990 as Cultural Texts
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Culture and Sustainable Development (ICOCAS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 366
EP  - 382
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_44
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_44
ID  - Purnomo2025
ER  -