Perlawanan di Atas Kertas: Peran Pers sebagai Senjata Pergerakan Nasional Indonesia, 1908–1942
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62924/jsi.v9i2.44196Keywords:
Colonialism, National Consciousness, National Press, National Movement, NewspapersAbstract
The struggle of the Indonesian nation against colonialism was fought not only on the battlefield but also through the print media. This paper examines how the press, particularly newspapers, served as a crucial instrument of struggle within the Indonesian national movement between 1908 and 1942. The press functioned as a medium for voicing nationalist ideas, criticizing colonial injustices, and fostering a spirit of nationalism among the populace. Figures such as Tirto Adhi Soerjo, through Medan Prijaji, demonstrated how media was employed as an intelligent and strategic tool of resistance. Furthermore, the press acted as a vital link connecting movement organizations, including Sarekat Islam, Budi Utomo, and the Indonesian National Party (PNI). Despite severe pressure from the colonial administration, which frequently imposed censorship and publishing bans, the national press successfully conveyed critiques and revolutionary resolve through satire, sarcasm, and allegory. The use of the Malay language expanded the reach of these messages across society, thereby nurturing a collective consciousness regarding the vital importance of independence. Utilizing a descriptive qualitative method with a literature study approach, this study reveals that the press served not merely as a communication medium, but as an ideological vehicle shaping national identity and public opinion. Consequently, the role of the press in the history of the national movement is inextricably linked to the emergence of Indonesian national consciousness.
References
Adam, A. B. (1995). The vernacular press and the emergence of modern Indonesian consciousness (1855–1913). Cornell University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv1nhp5c.
Ahmadin, A. (2017). Sejarah Pergerakan Nasional Indonesia. Skripsi. Universitas Negeri Makassar.
Akbar, A. Z. (1997). Kritik Sosial, Pers dan Politik Indonesia. Unisia, 32(4), 44-51. https://doi.org/10.20885/unisia.v0i32.5857.
Andani, A. A., & Birsyada, M. I. (2024). Perkembangan Pers Indonesia Sebagai Identitas Bangsa. Estoria: Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 4(2), 599-613. https://doi.org/10.30998/je.v4i2.2720.
Aprianto, I. D. (2022). Tjoe Bou San, Nasionalis Tionghoa dan Redaktur Sin Po. Patrawidya: Seri Penerbitan Penelitian Sejarah dan Budaya, 23(2), 121-144.
Apriyani, R. A. (2022). Pengaruh Djamaluddin Adinegoro Dalam Perkembangan Pers Masa Kolonial Belanda (1932-1942). SEUNEUBOK LADA: Jurnal ilmu-ilmu Sejarah, Sosial, Budaya dan Kependidikan, 9(2), 175-181. https://doi.org/10.33059/jsnbl.v10i2.5733.
Arditya, P. (2023). Pers dan Pergerakan: Membaca Sikap Politik Surat Kabar Fadjar Asia 1927-1930. Mitra Ilmu.
Arditya, P., & Ardiyan, D. (2022). Sikap politik surat kabar fadjar asia: Respon politis atas isu pergerakan nasional 1927-1930. Agastya: Jurnal Sejarah dan Pembelajarannya, 12(2), 154-168. https://doi.org/10.25273/ajsp.v12i2.9656.
Arnus, S. H. (2015). Jejak Perkembangan Sistem Pers Indonesia. Jurnal Al-Munzir, 8(1), 103-113. https://ejournal.iainkendari.ac.id/al-munzir/article/view/770.
Chaniago, D. M., & Humairah, U. R. (2019). Pers dan Perubahan Sosial di Sumatera Barat Awal Abad Ke-XX. Khazanah: Jurnal Sejarah dan Kebudayaan Islam, 14-30. https://doi.org/10.15548/khazanah.v0i0.186.
Collins, J. S. (2021). Pers Sebagai Pilar Demokrasi dalam Perspektif Islam. Jurnal Hukum Lex Generalis, 2(2), 142-173. https://doi.org/10.56370/jhlg.v2i2.25.
Daliman, A. (2012). Metode Penelitian Sejarah. Yogyakarta: Ombak.
Daraquthny, F. A., & MASSA, P. K. (2018). Tirto Adhi Soerjo (Studi Deskriptif Pemikiran Perintis Pers Pribumi pada Masa Kolonialisme Hindia-Belanda). Skripsi. Universitas Brawijaya.
Efendi, E., Nasution, M. H., Purba, U. H., Az-zahra, S. F., Ritonga, K., & Reindra, K. (2023). Peran Pers dalam Membangun Negara dan Daerah. Innovative: Journal of Social Science Research, 3(5), 8156-8170. https://j-innovative.org/index.php/Innovative/article/view/5830.
Fauzi, A., & Santosa, H. (2020). Pers sebagai instrumen komunikasi politik organisasi pergerakan nasional Indonesia (1908-1927). Jurnal Kebangsaan dan Sejarah, 9(2), 112-125.
Fauzi, W. I., & Santosa, A. B. (2020). Kehidupan sosial budaya masa pergerakan nasional di Indonesia (1900-1942) dari sudut pandang novel sejarah. Historia: Jurnal Pendidik dan Peneliti Sejarah, 3(2), 187-196. https://doi.org/10.17509/historia.v3i2.21675.
Gottschalk, L. (2015). Mengerti Sejarah (Penerj. Nugroho Notosusanto). Jakarta: Universitas Indonesia Press.
Hudiyanto, R. (2007). Pahlawan yang terlupakan: Pers Melayu, etnik Thionghoa, dan nasionalisme di Kota Malang 1920–1950. Humaniora, 19(3), 215-223. https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.905.
Hunter, E., & James, L. (2020). Introduction: Colonial public spheres and the worlds of print. Itinerario, 44(2), 227–242. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0165115320000248.
Hutagalung, I. (2013). Dinamika sistem pers di Indonesia. Interaksi: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi, 2(2), 156-163.
Indrakrista, N. B. (2015). Pers mengawal demokrasi daerah: Analisis pemberitaan implementasi dana keistimewaan di harian tribun jogja. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, 18(3), 196-209.
Izza, D. N. F. (2024a). Peran Media Pers Dalam Pembentukan Opini Publik Dimasa Demokrasi Liberal dan Terpimpin. Pubmedia Social Sciences and Humanities, 1(3), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.47134/pssh.v1i3.137.
Kosasih, A. (2013). Pers Tionghoa dan dinamika pergerakan nasional di Indonesia, 1900–1942. SUSURGALUR, 1(1), 41-60. https://doi.org/10.2121/susurgalur.v1i1.55.
Kuntowijoyo. (2013). Pengantar Ilmu Sejarah. Tiara Wacana.
Kusuma, A. R. (2026a). Agitasi, Propaganda, dan Pers Pergerakan: Dinamika Wacana Perlawanan Masa Hindia Belanda. Pustaka Sejarah Indonesia.
Kusuma, Y. M. (2026b). Propaganda dan Perlawanan: Pers, Kekuasaan Kolonial dan Perlawanan Pribumi. Journal of Law and Society, 1(1), 77-94. https://journal.goufpublisher.com/index.php/lexsociety/article/view/25.
Mahiyar, F. A. (2023). Sin Po: Peran pers Tionghoa dalam mendukung pergerakan nasional Indonesia 1925-1930. Historiography: Journal of Indonesian History and Education, 3(2), 154-161. https://doi.org/10.17977/um081v3i12023p154-161.
Mariana, R., & Hartati, U. (2022). Perkembangan Majalah Fikiran Ra’jat Pada Masa Pergerakan Nasional Tahun 1932-1933. SwarnaDwipa, 4(3), 121-129.
Prayogi, A., & Darutama, A. (2022). Sikap politik surat kabar fadjar asia: Respon politis atas isu pergerakan nasional 1927-1930. Agastya: Jurnal Sejarah dan Pembelajarannya, 12(2), 154-168. https://doi.org/10.25273/ajsp.v12i2.9656.
Sitorus, M. S. M. (2023). Surat Kabar Medan Prijaji: Media Aspirasi Rakyat Pribumi dan Pemantik Kesadaran Edukasi. JEJAK: Jurnal Pendidikan Sejarah & Sejarah, 3(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.22437/jejak.v3i2.24811.
Sjamsuddin, H. (2012). Metodologi Sejarah. Ombak.
Steedly, M. M. (1996). The importance of proper names: Language and “national” identity in colonial Karoland. American Ethnologist, 23(3), 447–475. https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1996.23.3.02a00010.
Subijanto, R. (2017a). Enlightenment and the revolutionary press in colonial Indonesia. International Journal of Communication, 11. 1357–1377. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/5159.
Subijanto, R. (2017b). Verlichtingsidealen en de revolutionaire pers in koloniaal Indonesië: De inhoud, productie en distributie van Sinar Hindia. Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 130(3), 449–466. https://doi.org/10.5117/TVGESCH2017.3.SUBI.
Suwirta, A. (1999). Zaman Pergerakan, Pers, dan Nasionalisme di Indonesia. Majalah Pendidikan, 4, 82-94.
Triharyanto, B. (2009). Pers Perlawanan, Politik Wacana Antikolonialisme Pertja Selatan. LKIS Pelangi Aksara.
Wahyuni, B., & Mursal, I. F. (2022). Analisis masa pergerakan nasional Indonesia 1908-1942. Siginjai: Jurnal Sejarah, 2(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.22437/js.v2i1.18742.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Kukuh Setyo Pambudi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright & License
Authors published in this journal agree to the following terms:
- The copyright of each article is retained by the author (s).
- The author grants the journal the first publication rights with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, allowing others to share the work with an acknowledgment of authorship and the initial publication in this journal.
- Authors may enter into separate additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of published journal versions of the work (for example, posting them to institutional repositories or publishing them in a book), with acknowledgment of their initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (For example, in the Institutional Repository or on their website) before and during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and more extensive citations of published work.
- Articles and all related material published are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All writing in this journal is the sole responsibility of the author. Jurnal Sejarah Indonesia provides open access to anyone so that the information and findings in these articles are helpful for everyone. Jurnal Sejarah Indonesia can be accessed and downloaded for free, free of charge, following the creative commons license.
License
Jurnal Sejarah Indonesia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
You are free to :
Share: copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt: remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following terms:
Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so reasonably but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
ShareAlike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
No additional restrictions: You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
