Dutch Colonial Propaganda in the Palembang Sultanate: Discursive Strategies of Delegitimation and Colonial Legitimation
https://doi.org/10.59110/aplikatif.999
Keywords:
Colonial Propaganda, Colonial Historiography, Colonial Discourse, Hegemony, Palembang SultanateAbstract
This article examines Dutch colonial propaganda as a political instrument used to undermine the legitimacy of the Palembang Darussalam Sultanate between 1811 and 1825 and explores its possible traces in later historiography and contemporary public discourse. Unlike prior studies that have focused mainly on military and diplomatic dimensions, this study positions propaganda as a discursive arena accompanying colonial political and military intervention. Drawing on Gramsci's concept of hegemony, Foucault's power-knowledge nexus, and Said's orientalism, the study examines colonial narratives of despotism, betrayal, and misgovernment surrounding Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II. The research employs a critical historical method combined with critical discursive analysis of published colonial texts, philologically verified archival excerpts cited in prior scholarship, and relevant secondary literature. Because direct access to unpublished archival repositories was limited, the study relies substantially on mediated rather than first-hand primary evidence. Findings suggest that colonial narratives functioned not only to discredit the sultan but also to legitimise Dutch intervention by contrasting colonial order with the alleged disorder of the sultanate. The study proposes a three-layer analytical model consisting of material-coercive, institutional-administrative, and discursive-epistemic dimensions. It also identifies possible traces of colonial narratives in later historiography and contemporary public discourse, while treating this continuity cautiously. The study contributes to Nusantara colonial studies by offering a critical framework for examining colonial propaganda in the Palembang case and for future comparative research on Sumatran coastal sultanates.
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