The invisible cigarette, the production of smoking culture and identity in Indonesia

Abstract

This thesis examines how smoking culture is represented in Indonesia and how cigarette advertisements create identities as an aspiration for contemporary Indonesians, especially the influential middle class. The thesis examines smoking culture in light of the dramatic cultural change occurring in what is the largest Muslim country in the world. It involved fieldwork in advertising agencies in Indonesia, which revealed the processes entailed in producing advertisements, a semiotic analysis of cigarette advertisements and an examination of the sociocultural factors that shape smoking behaviours and policy responses to tobacco use. It is argued that the nexus between smoking culture and Indonesian identity needs to be understood in light of globalization and the hybridisation of local traditional influences (local smoking culture, identity, class, and religion) and modern influences (contemporary industry, lifestyle, and global health).