Ismail Marzuki’s Nationalism Song Under the Japanese Occupation, 1942–1945

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Ismail Marzuki; Nationalism; Music; Japanese Occupation

Abstract

This study focuses on the creation of Ismail Marzuki’s works with a nationalistic theme during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, 1942–1945. One of the strategies employed by the Japanese occupation government to control Indonesia was through propaganda. This propaganda was carried out through various means and media, including newspapers, pamphlets, posters, photographs, radio, exhibitions, speeches, plays, traditional art performances, kamishibai (paper theater), films, and music. Meanwhile, culture was also used as a tool to control the population and eliminate Western influence in Indonesia. Therefore, the Japanese occupation government established the Kamin Bunka Shidosho as a cultural institution aimed at promoting traditional Indonesian art as a medium for introducing and spreading Japanese culture. In addition, this institution also provided training to artists through various courses. On the other hand, the use of these various media as tools for political propaganda was exploited by nationalists as an effort to foster a spirit of nationalism. One of the country’s composers who produced many works during the Japanese occupation was Ismail Marzuki. Related to the Japanese government’s policy of promoting culture as a medium of propaganda, Ismail Marzuki created songs that contained patriotic elements in a romantic atmosphere in order to be permitted by the Japanese occupation government, one of which was Rayuan Pulau Kelapa and Gugur Bunga, which are still popular. Thus, this article focuses on how the conditions of the situation during the Japanese occupation influenced the creation of Ismail Marzuki’s works with a nationalistic theme.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Debora Alfi Dwidi Teofani
AU  - Dhanang Respati Puguh
AU  - Yety Rochwulaningsih
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/19
TI  - Ismail Marzuki’s Nationalism Song Under the Japanese Occupation, 1942–1945
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Culture and Sustainable Development (ICOCAS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 142
EP  - 150
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_18
ID  - Teofani2025
ER  -