DEPOK,
The University of Indonesia has again graduated a doctorate in Communication Science. Nanang Haroni successfully defended his dissertation in a hybrid doctoral promotion session held on Monday, July 7, 2025 at 10:00-12:00 WIB at the Juwono Sudarsono Auditorium (AJS), FISIP UI Campus, Depok. He officially earned his Doctor of Communication Science degree, after presenting critical research on the phenomenon of reification in the production of sub-genre doom religious soap operas. The session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Semiarto Aji Purwanto. Nanang’s dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hamad and Dr. Eriyanto, with a team of examiners consisting of Evi Eliyanah, Ph.D, Dr. Phil Fitzgerald Kennedy Sitorus, Inaya Rakhmani, Ph.D, Dr. Indah Santi Pratidina, and Dr. Reny Yuliati.
Reification Phenomenon in Sinetron Azab
Through his dissertation entitled “Media Artificial Recognition: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Phenomenon of Reification in the Production of the Religious Soap Opera Sub-Genre Azab,” Nanang raised how religious-themed shows, especially the soap opera doom, experience a reduction in meaning when religious symbols are reproduced superficially and repeatedly for the sake of commodification.
“The concept of doom is brought into media representations and is increasingly distanced from theology. It becomes just a symbol of commodification practices, just a profitable spectacle, and not a material for consumptive reflection. This is where the gradation of reification occurs,” said Nanang in his academic speech. He highlighted how moral and spiritual messages in television proselytizing actually experience degradation of meaning because they are controlled by the logic of ratings and industry.
The concept of “Media Artificial Recognition”
Nanang developed the concept of media artificial recognition as a new framework for understanding the way religious symbols are used in media production as a market instrument rather than a theological discourse.
“In the use of media as a means of proselytizing and the involvement of religious figures in production, the identification of reification gives rise to strong symptoms of media artificial recognition. Thus, artificial recognition becomes a practical framework for analyzing the arena of ideological recognition,” he explained, referring to Axel Honneth’s thinking.
Methodology and Key Findings
This research uses an interpretative phenomenological approach by extracting in-depth narratives from religious soap opera production actors. Nanang portrays that da’wah on screen often stops as a symbolic aesthetic that loses its reflective and transformative power. His contribution opens up new discussion spaces in religious media studies, cultural communication, and ideological production in mainstream media. With this success, Nanang Haroni passed with very satisfying results and received appreciation from the examining team. (MAP)
