From the turn of the 20th century, the native people of the Dutch East Indies began to hold a greater degree of nationalism, evidenced in part by the establishment of several nationalist publications.

They sent letters to forty contributors to the literary section of the newspaper Pandji Poestaka requesting submissions, as well as support from ten sultanates.

In cultural discourse, the magazine published disagreeing polemics over the proper balance of Westernization and tradition necessary for the country's development.

Although most of its published works are now forgotten, the shared themes and styles from 1933 to 1942 have led critics to deem the period the "Poedjangga Baroe generation" of Indonesian literature.

[1] At the beginning of the twentieth century, the different ethnic groups of the Dutch East Indies – modern day Indonesia – began to feel a sense of national unity, as eventually formulated in the 1928 Youth Pledge.

[7] Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, editor of "Memadjoekan Sastera" ("Advancing Literature", the literary section of Pandji Poestaka) since its creation in March 1932, met Armijn Pane when the latter began submitting poems.

[5] To avoid the creative limitations of the Dutch East Indies' state-owned publisher Balai Pustaka, they agreed that the magazine should be independent.

Other writers, including Armijn's elder brother Sanusi Pane and poet Muhammad Yamin, were called to serve on the editorial board.

This first edition included a foreword by educators Ki Hadjar Dewantara and Hoessein Djajadiningrat, eleven poems from solicited writers, and two essays, one by Armijn and one by Alisjahbana.

[1] After the Japanese surrender and towards the end of the Indonesian National Revolution, a second series was published under the same title by Alisjabahna with new contributors, including Chairil Anwar, Achdiat Karta Mihardja, and Asrul Sani.

[1][24] The first edition of this new series, dated March 1948 but released in May, included a heated condemnation of the Indonesian leadership for perceived unwillingness to deal with the suffering which occurred during the occupation.

Secondly, native intellectuals mainly spoke Dutch during formal discourse, while others kept to local languages; this led to comprehension issues for the Indonesian-language Poedjangga Baroe.

[27] Poedjangga Baroe's original stated mission, to advocate a new style of literature and language that reflected the Indonesian National Awakening, lasted until April 1934.

However, writings falling under various parts of the political spectrum were published, including works by cultural nationalists, a sonnet dedicated to Marxist theorist Rosa Luxemburg, and notes on fascism.

Sutherland suggests that the romantic theme prevalent in their works was adapted by the authors to escape the changing realities of Indonesian society.

[43] According to Sutherland, most contributors to Poedjangga Baroe kept a sense of ambivalence towards the Dutch colonial government as well as traditional culture as a central theme in their works.

[29] Keith Foulcher, an Australian professor of Indonesian literature and language, writes that the poems published in Poedjangga Baroe were structurally based in reimaginings of traditional forms with an emphasis on aesthetic diction; thematically, he writes, the poems tended to deal with either lofty goals or a deep sense of loneliness in the midst of natural beauty.

[33] Traditionalists also decried the introduction of loanwords to Malay from regional and foreign languages to increase the Indonesian lexicon[24] and the deviation from traditional pantuns and syairs.

[49] However, the aesthetic qualities of works published in Poedjangga Baroe have received mixed reception in the years after the magazine stopped publication.

Indonesian poet and literary critic Muhammad Balfas argued in 1976 that most poetry published in Poedjangga Baroe suffered from over-sentimentality and flowery rhetoric, which he blamed on the writers being influenced by the Tachtigers.

[51] Leftist literary critic Bakri Siregar condemned Poedjangga Baroe's neutral political stance, arguing that its inability to objectively understand the needs of the people made it unfit to truly reflect the struggle for independence.