Mission and Colonialism: A Reconstruction of the Historiography of Evangelism in the 19th Century Dutch East Indies

Abstract

The expansion of Christian missions in the Dutch East Indies in the 19th century took place in close relationship with the colonial power structure, but the historiography of this phenomenon is still dominated by colonial archival sources that tend to place European missionaries as active subjects of history, while indigenous peoples are presented as passive objects of Christian teachings. Previous historiographical studies have not systematically reconstructed this narrative through a critical-postcolonial framework that places local agencies at the center of analysis. This study aims to (1) identify mission-centric bias patterns in conventional mission historiography, and (2) offer an alternative historiographic reconstruction framework based on source criticism and postcolonial theory. This research uses a qualitative historical-critical approach by examining primary sources (missionary reports, documents of the Zending institution, colonial archives) and secondary sources, analyzed through the framework of orientalism (Said), hybridity (Bhabha), and translatability of the Gospel (Walls; Sanneh). The findings suggest that the historiographic narrative of missions has long hidden the active negotiation space of local communities, and that re-reading of the same sources can reveal patterns of indigenous agency that have been marginalized. This research contributes to methodological debates in mission studies and church history, in particular by offering a historiographic reconstruction model that can be applied to mission studies in other colonial contexts, as well as enriching the understanding of the dynamics of local Christianity in Indonesia.