“The Netherlands in Indonesia, 1945-49”: An Analysis of Argument Narrative Structure in Indonesian History Textbook

Abstract

History textbooks influence students' interpretations through the structure of arguments and the meanings they contain. This article attempts to answer the question, what is the narrative structure of argument and meaning in the textbook? This article explores narrative arguments using Toulmin's model framework and the use of lexicogrammatical features to detect diction and word choice to identify the contrasting language in textbooks. We explore the Indonesian history textbook in senior high school class XI (eleven). The material analysed is the confrontation between the Netherlands and Indonesia from 1945-49. The study found that the textbook narrative argument identifies the claim that the early conditions of Indonesian independence were fraught with obstacles. The textbook claims that the arrival of the Allies and the Netherlands caused resistance, so the Indonesian struggle occurred in two ways: war and diplomacy. Indonesian history textbooks have become a tool of persuasion to benefit students' national identity formation. Using lexicogrammatical features also reinforces the claim that the Netherlands is on the "bad" side and Indonesia is on the "good" side. Thus, the narrative argument validates the official state-sanctioned history of the Netherlands as a colonialist state and exhibits antagonistic behaviour toward the Indonesian people's decision for independence.