Article | Open Access
Pahlawan, Pengkhianat, Atau Penjahat (Hero, Traitor, or Villain): A Personal Journey Through Indonesian History
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Abstract: This article concerns Indonesian heroes, traitors, and villains from different regions and eras. The factors influencing the categorisation of individuals as heroes or villains are examined. Examples include regional leaders who opposed the Dutch East India Company or collaborated with it. Similar cases are examined from the period of the Netherlands Indies colonial state. Also discussed are nationalists who were members of the Indonesian Communist Party, and people now deemed heroes who collaborated with the Japanese during the Second World War. Next for consideration are individuals involved in Confrontation with Malaysia and the occupation of East Timor. The last cases come from the world of popular music and show how performers idolised by fans can be considered villains by others.
Keywords: colonialism; East Timor; heroes; Indonesia; Malaysia; popular music; Singapore; traitors; villains
Published:
Issue:
Vol 12 (2024): Indonesian Heroes and Villains: National Identity, Politics, Law, and Security
© Steven Farram. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction of the work without further permission provided the original author(s) and source are credited.