Originally published as a serial in the newspaper Sinar Hindia, it was republished in book form in 1919 by Masman & Stroink.

An intersecting plotline, which unfolds parallel to the main story, follows Dutch administrator Willem Walter in his romantic life.

This includes love, which is described in the novel as something only those with a Dutch education would attempt to find; the traditional view being that marriage is to be used for social mobility.

Student Hidjo was written by Marco Kartodikromo, a journalist from Blora[1] who began his career in Bandung and was strongly opposed to the policies of the Dutch East Indies government.

[3] He spent five months in the Netherlands,[1] from late 1916 to early 1917;[4] upon his return, he was arrested by the Dutch governmental authorities for "sowing hatred" and sentenced to a year in prison in Weltevreden, Batavia (now Sawah Besar, Jakarta).

The tighter controls put on the press after 1906 led to Student Hidjo being published with the text "not to be quoted" ("tak boleh dikoetip") on the cover.

He writes that "saya" was preferred over a Javanese word due to first person pronouns having highly different levels of politeness in that language.

[a] Maier writes that this understanding is not limited to the language used, but also actions; this includes holding hands in public and drinking lemonade, activities which traditional Indonesian society does not involve.

He notes that, towards the end of the novel, love is described as something only those with a Dutch education would attempt to find, as the social-financial meaning of marriage remains predominant among the traditional Javanese.

[14] Kato writes that the novel is "unremarkable in terms of radical activism", but unrivaled in its imagination when compared to Sitti Nurbaya (1922; Marah Rusli), Salah Asuhan (Wrong Upbringing; 1927; Abdoel Moeis), and Rasa Merdika.