Silent Heroes, Shifting Memories: Memory Reconfiguration and War Narratives of Veterans in Mainland China

• In Event: 41021 - Student Forum Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 22: Global Epistemologies

Abstract

The construction of war memory is a dynamic and contested process, shaped by both individual recollections and shifting socio-political narratives. In mainland China, veterans of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression have experienced dramatic fluctuations in historical recognition, from political marginalization in the mid-20th century to renewed national acknowledgment in recent decades. This study examines how these veterans, particularly those interviewed over the past decade, navigate the evolving memory landscape and reconstruct their wartime narratives in response to changing social agendas. By utilizing oral history interviews, discourse analysis, and memory studies frameworks, this research identifies a dual process of memory transformation. On one hand, veterans exhibit memory fuzzification, selectively avoiding or omitting politically sensitive aspects of their past, particularly those related to post-war affiliations and political stigma. This aligns with theories of trauma avoidance and mnemonic displacement, reflecting decades of historical exclusion and repression. On the other hand, veterans demonstrate memory reconfiguration, actively emphasizing their wartime contributions and integrating themselves into contemporary nationalist discourse. This process illustrates how memory is not merely retrieved but strategically reconstructed, shaped by both personal agency and broader socio-political conditions. By situating veterans’ narratives within China’s evolving war memory framework, this study challenges top-down models of memory formation, highlighting the agency of marginalized historical actors in shaping their own recollections.

Authors

• Kaiqing She, New York University

• Yourong Yao, University of Macau