1947

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tagsyear, publication, post-colonial, aceh, hooykaas, over-maleise-literatuur, colonial, dutch, military, decoration
aliasesthe year 1947, 1947 Hooykaas account, 1947 — Over Maleise Literatuur published

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1947 was the year of publication of Oost-Indisch Journael — Palaver around the table with the hole — volume 2 of the Toekan-Serie edited by G. L. Tichelman, and also the year in which a Koninklijk Besluit dated February 1947 awarded the Bronzenn Kruis (Bronze Cross) to *Lieutenant‑colonel K. M. R. W. A. van Heuven for distinguished conduct during the battles near Grisseh and Lamongan in March 1942. Both events occurred amid the 1945‑1949 Indonesian revolution, a period that shaped their post‑colonial significance.

Publications in 1947

Oost‑Indisch Journael (Palaver around the table with the hole)

Oost-Indisch Journael was published in 1947 by De Gulden Pers in Haarlem as volume 2 of the Toekan-Serie, edited by G. L. Tichelman (former administrative official). The work is a collection of small histories written between the First and Second World Wars; the author describes them as tales of “the old time, which is always said to be good and to which we look back with a mild smile of melancholy.” Its Aceh content—Aceh murders, the soldiers’ chaplain Thenu, the Meusigit Raja, the Gajoweg, and the transport‑elephants—constitutes the inter‑war colonial memory of the Aceh War.

Over Maleise Literatuur (second edition)

The second edition of Over Maleise Literatuur (“On Malay Literature”) was published in 1947 by E. J. Brill in Leiden. Authored by Dr. C. Hooykaas, Hoogleraarte Batavia, the volume is a synthetic survey of Malay literature and a key secondary source for the literary‑historical connections between the Malay‑speaking world and the sultanate of Atjeh. Hooykaas notes in his introduction that “Verandering in mijn doceertaak heeft mij genoopt in de vrije tijd van slechts drie jaar dit boek samen te stellen” (a change in his teaching duties compelled him to compile the book in the free time of only three years). The work treats a dense array of Atjehnese material, including the Hikajat Sultan Atjeh Marhoem, Hikajat Malém Dagang, Sadjarah Malajoe, Tādj us‑Salāṭīn, Boestan oes‑Salāṭīn, Sirāṭ al‑mustaqīm, the Atjehnese Hikajat Malém Diwa, the Pasai sultanate, the Hikajat Raja‑Raja Pasai, and the genealogy of the sultans of Malacca and Djohor.

Military Award of 1947

A Koninklijk Besluit dated February 1947 awarded the Bronzenn Kruis to *Lieutenant‑colonel K. M. R. W. A. van Heuven for “bijzonder moedige en beleid‑valle daden” (particularly brave and prudent actions) during the fighting near Grisseh and Lamongan in March 1942. The decree highlighted van Heuven’s role in maintaining order among the indigenous population and in leading reconnaissance missions against superior Japanese forces.

Post‑colonial Context

Both the publications and the military award occurred in the middle of the 1945‑1949 Indonesian revolution. Oost-Indisch Journael and Over Maleise Literatuur are tempo doeloe syntheses that look back on the colonial past with a nostalgic yet melancholy tone, reflecting a scholarly and officer class that was witnessing the imminent end of the Dutch colonial state. The 1947 awarding of the Bronzenn Kruis exemplifies the Dutch practice of honouring colonial officers for wartime service, illustrating the military culture of the Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger during the final years of Dutch rule.

Significance

The year 1947 thus marks a convergence of cultural, scholarly, and military currents in the late colonial period of the Dutch East Indies. The publications provide the primary source material for the AcehWiki corpus on Acehnese literary and historical memory, while the award decree reveals how Dutch colonial authorities commemorated their own wartime narratives. Together, they underscore how 1947 functioned as a symbolic “marker” of both remembrance of the tempo doeloe and the accelerating transition toward Indonesian independence.

See Also

Source

  • Oost‑Indisch Journael: Palaver om de tafel met het gat, by Merac, Toekan‑Serie no. 2, ed. G. L. Tichelman (Haarlem: De Gulden Pers, 1947), title page and Korte verklaring.

  • Over Maleise Literatuur, by Dr. C. Hooykaas, Hoogleraarte Batavia; Tweede Druk (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1947), Inleiding, pp. VII‑XII.

  • De geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Korps Mariniers van 1665‑1945, OCR text, pp. 440‑442.

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