H. Mohd. Said: his journalism and intellectual life

Özay, Mehmet (2023) H. Mohd. Said: his journalism and intellectual life. In: Virtual Seminar on the Commemoration of the 28th Year of the Demise of Haji Mohd. Said,, 15 May 2023, Virtual. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This work probes Mohd. Said's journalism is more profound than the existing works produced in journal articles by academicians and non-academicians. The life history of Mohd Said is taken into consideration because of various aspects of his personality. What makes unique of the life of the late Mohd. Said that he had interests related to commencing of his lifetime, such as activism in nationalism which was common parlance during the first part of the 20th century in the Archipelago, ethics in journalism, education, history, and in general sense intellectuality, which he had taken seriously and engaged sustainably throughout their lives. This comprehensive intellectual background of the late Mohd. Said arrests undoubtfully the eyes of any observers. With this regard, this study can be classified as a sample of micro-sociology because it departs from the approach of a general trend of conventional historiography by absorbing facts concerning grand political events and episodes. Nevertheless, I aim to penetrate his intellectual contribution and struggle here. Mohd. Said was a self-made intellectual who expresses in his writings formidable historical events commencing from the migrant workers to North Sumatra to the Dutch War in Aceh land. Studying his intellectual history, I would like to construct a framework to explain his ideas of the development of nationalism and the causes that allowed independence in later decades. As evident, during the early decades of the 20th century, nationalism, identity, and nation-state were a patchwork & have cleavages in the minds of many people in the Archipelago. There was no revolution like what happened in France. Nor WW1 in the Archipelago. Nevertheless, the discourse was gaining power and pace through the writings of young journalists and intellectuals like Mohd. Said. In this context, one can argue that the whole writing process of Mohd. Said resulted from a ‘colonial predicament,’ a phenomenon for Indonesia's developmental stage of history writing. The thought and actions of Mohd. Said should be considered as representing values of his own time. In this regard, one can assert that -in a Hegelian way- his self-consciousness helps the readers to comprehend the ‘spirit of the time.’ This study carries some remarkable glimpses of the era of tense discussion of independence and anti-colonial struggle through the understanding of Mohd. Said. This approach, namely viewing past political developments through a specific crucial agent, is essential.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Plenary Papers)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Mohd. Said, Waspada, nationalism, intellectuality, Medan, North Sumatra
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC)
Depositing User:	ASSOC.PROF MEHMET ÖZAY
Date Deposited:	29 May 2023 14:36
Last Modified:	16 Oct 2023 15:49
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/104673

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