Narrative Challenges and Strategies for the International Communication of China’s War of Resistance Story

Telling the story of the War of Resistance and spreading its spirit is to defend the truth and remember history, and to promote the common values of humanity’s pursuit of peace, justice, freedom, and dignity. It enables the world to see more clearly the suffering and glory the Chinese nation has experienced along its path, deepening understanding of China’s achievements today and its role as a responsible major country, thereby winning broader international respect, recognition, and cooperation for China.

讲好抗战故事、传播好抗战精神，是捍卫真相、铭记历史，是对人类追求和平、正义、自由、尊严的共同价值的弘扬。让世界更真切地看到中华民族一路走来的苦难与辉煌，加深对今日中国成就和负责任大国的理解，进而为我国赢得更广泛的国际尊重、认同与合作。

Enhancing the Narrative of the War of Resistance Discourse in Multiple Dimensions

多维提升抗战话语叙事

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC [1]1 The 18th National Congress of the CPC, held in 2012, marked the beginning of the Xi Jinping era and the introduction of the concept of the “Chinese Dream.”, China has focused on core issues such as “who was the mainstay of the War of Resistance” and “the true contribution of the Eastern Main Battlefield,” employing multi-subject discourse narratives involving official, media, cultural institutions, and the public, and disseminating them through channels such as historical exhibitions, media reports, artistic reproductions, and new technologies. This has achieved breakthrough results in clarifying rumors, restoring history, and correcting the errors of “Western-centrism” and reversing biases in the international public opinion arena. At present, problems remain in the narrative of the War of Resistance discourse, such as being unclear, failing to spread, and lacking credibility, which affect the effectiveness of international communication.

党的十八大以来，我国围绕“谁是抗战的中流砥柱”“东方主战场的真实贡献”等核心议题，通过官方、媒体、文化机构、大众为主体的多方话语叙事，借助史实展演、媒体报道、艺术复现和新技术等渠道传播，在国际舆论场上澄清谣言、还原历史，破除“西方中心主义”歧误、扭转偏见，取得了突破性成效。目前，在抗战话语叙事中还存在着讲不清、传不开、信不过的问题，影响国际传播的效度。

First, the perspective of “empathy” integration has yet to be fully opened, and multi-faceted, multi-dimensional narratives of the War of Resistance still need to be enriched. Chinese literary and artistic writings on the War of Resistance often focus on macro and collective narratives. This is the most direct response by creators to the historical themes of “national peril” and “national salvation and survival,” warning people not to forget the suffering of history and to remember the collective power, forming a narrative characteristic with appeal. However, international presentations of World War II memory narratives also have unique experiences worth learning from. For example, some works depict the survival dilemmas and trauma of individuals caught in the cracks after the loss of national sovereignty; others focus on the devastating impact of war on individual souls; some creations emphasize the hardships and moral dilemmas of survival under the shadow of power; others adopt the perspective of international witnesses to form a “third-party” expression of empathy. This suggests that telling the story of war can be vividly developed from different sides, dimensions, and richer perspectives, connecting the historical experiences of different individuals, groups, nations, and the world, and promoting historical truth and memory to the world.

一是“共情”融通视角尚待打开，多侧面、多维度的抗战叙事话语仍需充实。中国抗战文艺书写多注重宏观和集体性叙事，这是创作者对“民族危亡”“救国图存”历史主题最直接的呼应，警醒人们不忘苦难历史，牢记集体伟力，形成了一种具有感召力的叙事特色。但国际上对于二战记忆叙事的呈现，也有其独特经验值得借鉴。如，有的作品表现国家主权丧失后，个体在夹缝中的生存困境和创伤，有的关注战争对个体灵魂的毁灭性打击；有些创作着重揭示在强权阴影下生存的艰难与道德困境，有些则通过国际亲历者视角展开述说，形成“第三方”共情表达。这提示我们，讲述战争可从不同侧面、不同维度、更丰富的视角生动展开，将不同个体、群体、民族与世界的历史经验连接起来，推动历史真相和记忆走向世界。

Second, the disconnect in language, interpretation, and context causes international audiences to “encounter” difficulties in understanding and fall into interpretive dilemmas. Some communication subjects have the problem of burying their heads in production without considering the audience. Some engage in uniform, indiscriminate “flood irrigation” communication, unclear about “who to communicate to,” “what to communicate,” and “how to communicate,” and even lack targeted research, precise evaluation, and classification assessment for target audiences, making it difficult for content narratives to attract attention. In 2025, a field survey of 10 red-themed venues [2]2 “Red-themed venues” refers to museums, memorial halls, and exhibition sites dedicated to the history of the Chinese Communist Party and the revolutionary period. by Donghua University found that international audiences still commonly face problems such as “language barriers,” “narrative obstacles,” and “emotional deficits.” In reality, some exhibitions only have simple bilingual Chinese-English explanations, some translations are stiff and lack historical context, and this “indoctrination-style” narration is difficult to resonate with, affecting audiences’ cognition and understanding of the War of Resistance narrative content to varying degrees.

二是语言、阐释与语境的断层，使国际受众“遭遇”理解难点，陷入解读困境。一些传播主体存在埋头生产、不问对象的问题，有的是千篇一律的大水漫灌式传播，并不明晰要“传给谁”“传什么”“怎么传”，更缺少针对目标受众的专项调研、精准测评和分类评估，使得内容叙事很难吸引注意。2025年，东华大学一项对10家红色场馆的实地调研发现，当前国际观众还普遍面临“语言门槛”“叙事障碍”“情感缺失”等问题。现实中，有的展览只有简单中英说明，有的翻译生硬，缺乏历史语境介绍，这种“灌输式”讲述很难引起共鸣，不同程度影响了观众对于抗战叙事内容的认知与理解。

Third, “god shows” and “thunder shows” [3]3 “God shows” (神剧) and “thunder shows” (雷剧) are Chinese internet slang for television dramas with absurd, exaggerated, or historically inaccurate plots, often criticized for trivializing serious history. undermine the credibility of the War of Resistance narrative. On July 21, 2025, the Network Audiovisual Department of the National Radio and Television Administration issued a “Management Tip,” criticizing some micro-dramas on the War of Resistance theme for having overly strong character settings and plots excessively pursuing so-called “dramatic tension,” giving users the impression of “god shows,” which undermines the real history of the War of Resistance and is detrimental to the shaping of young people’s values. Since the National Radio and Television Administration’s crackdown on “War of Resistance thunder shows” in 2013, absurd “Resistance god shows” have sparked widespread public reflection. Some crudely graft modern technological means onto War of Resistance scenarios, exaggerating protagonists with settings of “extraordinary feats” and “divine skills”; some reduce the national narrative to a pseudo-theme of personal revenge; some use abnormal plot twists of “one reversal every three minutes” to attract attention at a fast pace. Some of these outputs are re-edited into mocking material on overseas social platforms, weakening the seriousness and authenticity of China’s War of Resistance narrative.

三是“神剧”“雷剧”透支抗战叙事公信力。2025年7月21日，国家广电总局网络视听司发布《管理提示》，批评部分抗战题材微短剧存在极强人设，剧情过于追求所谓“戏剧张力”等问题，让用户产生“神剧”观感，造成对抗战真实历史的消解，不利于青少年价值观的塑造。自2013年国家广电总局整治“抗战雷剧”以来，情节荒诞的“抗日神剧”已引发公众广泛反思。有的将现代技术手段粗暴嫁接到抗战情景，对主角进行拥有“奇功”“神技”的夸大设定，有的将家国叙事矮化为个人复仇的伪主题，有的以“三分钟一反转”的反常桥段快节奏吸引注意。一些此类产出在海外社交平台被二次剪辑成嘲讽素材，削弱了中国抗战叙事的严肃性和真实性。

Fourth, fragmented and pan-entertainment themes undermine the audience’s deep understanding of the War of Resistance. Some domestic and international social media have seen “War of Resistance memes,” such as turning martyrs’ names into prank filters; the problem of algorithm-recommended entertainment content having higher play counts than real documentaries easily creates a “bad money drives out good” effect; some War of Resistance works irresponsibly deconstruct history, trivializing the solemn and tragic national war into heroes’ romantic entanglements, idyllic scenes, or “casual matters.” The excessive commercialization and entertainment tendencies exposed in plots and details not only distort historical facts but also dissolve the sense of tragedy and seriousness of the War of Resistance history.

四是碎片化、泛娱乐化主题消解受众对抗战的深度认知。一些国内外社交媒体一度出现“抗战梗”，如把烈士名字做成恶搞滤镜；算法推荐所导致的娱乐化内容播放量高于真实纪录片的问题，也易形成“劣币驱逐良币”的不良效应；一些抗战作品对历史进行不负责任的解构，把严肃悲壮的民族战争轻描淡写成英雄人物的儿女情长、花前月下或“谈笑之事”。剧情、细节等暴露的过度商业化和娱乐化倾向，不仅歪曲了历史事实，更消解了抗战历史的悲剧感、严肃性。

Optimizing International Communication Narrative Strategies

优化国际传播叙事策略

A mature and rational nation cannot treat its own history of blood and tears as a subject for frivolous storytelling. Telling the story of the War of Resistance should adhere to the guidance of historical materialism [4]4 Historical materialism is the Marxist theory that material conditions and economic factors are the primary drivers of historical development.; content narratives and communication must be serious, proper, and appropriate. To tell China’s War of Resistance story well, to make the War of Resistance narrative truly enter people’s hearts and influence international audiences, the problems of distortion, contextual disconnection, and entertainment must be resolved. A multi-faceted, multi-channel, multi-subject three-dimensional expression should be used to present historical facts, promote dialogue between history and reality, address the crisis of historical memory gaps, and optimize international communication narrative strategies through the exploration and dissemination of spiritual values and contemporary significance, establishing and expanding the contemporary influence of China’s War of Resistance culture in the international public opinion arena.

一个成熟理性的民族，不能将自己的血泪史当作戏说对象。讲述抗战故事，应坚持历史唯物主义导向，内容叙事和传播都要严肃、端正、贴切。讲好中国抗战故事，让抗战叙事真正走入人心、影响国际受众，必须解决失真、语境断裂、娱乐化的问题。应以多侧面、多渠道、多主体的立体表达，呈现史实，推动历史与现实互文对话，应对历史记忆断层危机，并通过精神价值和时代意义的发掘与传播，优化国际传播叙事策略，在国际舆论场上建立和扩大中国抗战文化的当代影响力。

First, connect grand narratives with personal emotional experiences, use “small” stories to explain big principles, and activate historical memory through “empathy” integration. To extend the memory of the War of Resistance into the context of international communication, on the one hand, it is necessary to accurately convey the overall experience of the Chinese people in the War of Resistance, express the spirit of the War of Resistance, and enrich the world’s shared memory. On the other hand, it is necessary to combine “the people” with “the individual,” using a grain of rice, an IOU, a cotton quilt to narrate major events of the nation and the state, integrating the value pursuits, heartbeats, and body temperatures of individuals and groups into the world, forming a resonance between grand narratives and individual values.

第一，连接宏大叙事与个人情感体验，以“小”故事讲清大道理，在“共情”融通中激活历史记忆。把抗战记忆拓展到国际传播语境中，一方面，要准确传达中国人民的整体抗战经验，表现抗战精神，丰富世界的共同记忆。另一方面，要把“人民”与“人”结合起来，用一粒米、一张借条、一条棉被讲述民族、国家的重大事件，把个体与群体的价值追求、体温心跳共同融入世界，形成宏大叙事与个体价值的共振。

Second, adapt to reading and listening habits, promote a shift in discourse style from a propaganda tone to dialogue, and make the historical narrative of the War of Resistance enter the mind and heart. Traditional War of Resistance narratives often adopt an omniscient perspective with text commentary, supplemented by a fixed model of historical images, forming an unquestionable authority. Although this tone can give a forceful and indisputable impression, it can also create a sense of distance for the audience. In the new media communication environment, interaction has become the most common way for people. The narrative tone of War of Resistance stories also needs to adapt to changes in reception habits to achieve a communication effect that blends reason and emotion and moves people. For example, the documentary series “Rereading Letters from Home of the War of Resistance” uses the letters of anti-Japanese martyrs as an entry point to interpret history in detail, forming multiple dialogues between the past and the present, the “iron backbone” and “deep affection” images of heroes, and contemporary people, allowing people to feel more deeply the spiritual wealth carried by the letters.

第二，契合阅听习惯，促进话语方式从宣教语态向对话转变，让抗战历史叙事入脑入心。传统抗战叙事往往采用全知视角的文本解说，辅之以历史影像的固定模式，形成不容置疑的权威性。这种语态虽能够给人掷地有声、不容辩驳之势，但也会让受众产生距离感。新媒体传播环境下，互动已成为人们最习以为常的方式，抗战故事的叙事语态也需顺应接受习惯的变化，以达到情理交融、打动人心的传播效果。如系列纪录片《重读抗战家书》，以抗日英烈的家书为切入点细解历史，形成了过去与现代、英雄的“铁骨”与“深情”形象以及当代人之间的多重对话，让人们更深切地感受到家书所承载的精神财富。

Third, probe the psychology of target audiences, break down “cultural discount,” communicate precisely from the perspective of the other, and deepen the international community’s cognition and understanding of the War of Resistance. In international communication, different cultural contexts bring about the problem of “cultural discount” in historical narration. “Cultural discount” can be defined as the phenomenon of value loss when a cultural product is decoded by users from different cultures due to differences in cultural references, preferences, styles, and other related factors. “Cultural discount” is mainly influenced by cultural psychology. To reduce its interference, it is necessary to clearly probe the psychology of target audiences, study the perspective of the other to adjust narrative strategies, and make communication more precise, effective, and fruitful.

第三，探查目标受众心理，破除“文化折扣”，站在他者视角精准传播，深化国际社会的抗战认知和理解。在国际传播中，不同的文化语境会带来历史讲述的“文化折扣”问题。可将“文化折扣”界定为一种文化产品被不同文化的用户解码时，因为文化参照、偏好、风格及其他相关因素差异而导致的价值损失现象。“文化折扣”主要受到文化心理的影响。降解其干扰，要对目标受众心理作出清晰探查，研究他者视角调整叙事策略，使传播更加精准有力、富有成效。

Some Western media always associate the War of Resistance with negative information such as violence, bloodshed, and terror, causing many foreign audiences to misinterpret red culture as political propaganda and develop resistance. To break down this barrier and optimize narrative strategies, first, it is necessary to avoid expressions prone to disagreement, tell more common stories, combine “expressing feelings” with reasoning, and subtly reverse negative emotions. Second, start from issues of concern to the audience, find the right point of emotional connection, and choose the appropriate narrative interface characters, materials, and perspectives. Finally, through continuous, multi-dimensional information transmission, achieve cognitive reconstruction among local audiences, breaking down stereotypes and prejudices. However, it should be noted that this reconstruction is not replacement, but a process of transmission—superimposition—enculturation—coverage/integration, thereby reaching psychological identification.

一些西方媒体总将抗战与暴力、流血、恐怖等负面信息相关联，导致不少国外受众将红色文化误读为政治宣传，存在抵触情绪。破除这一壁垒，优化叙事策略，首先需避开易生分歧的表达，多讲共性故事、以“陈情”结合说理，潜移默化扭转负面情绪。其次，从受众关注议题入手，找准心绪结合点，选择好叙事界面人物、语料、角度。最后，通过持续、多维信息传递实现在地受众的认知重构，破除刻板印象和偏见。但也需注意，这种重构不是取代，而是经过传递—叠加—濡化—覆盖/融入的过程，进而触达心理认同。

Fourth, tell the history of the War of Resistance well to youth groups, and deeply construct a common discourse on the War of Resistance. The light of history will eventually shine into reality and illuminate the future. Correcting the War of Resistance memories of global audiences, especially youth groups, is not only a “remedial lesson” in history and culture, but also of great and far-reaching significance for drawing wisdom from history, preventing the recurrence of tragedy, breaking down historical revisionism and historical nihilism, opposing unilateralism, hegemonism, and bullying, and cherishing and defending peace through concrete actions. It is necessary to fully understand the cultural needs of youth, combine their healthy cultural interests, popular discourse styles, behavioral trends, etc., to stimulate young people’s interest in and resonance with the history of the War of Resistance, as well as their enthusiasm and actions for participating in the construction of War of Resistance discourse.

第四，向青年群体讲好抗战历史，深入构建抗战共同话语。历史的光芒终会照进现实、照亮未来，纠偏全球受众特别是青年群体的抗战记忆，不仅是对历史文化的“补习”，对于从历史中汲取智慧，防止悲剧重演，破除历史修正主义、历史虚无主义，反对单边主义、霸权主义、霸凌主义，以实际行动珍视、捍卫和平，都具有重大而深远的意义。要充分了解青年文化需求，结合青年群体的健康文化兴趣、流行语态、行为趋向等，激发青年人的抗战史兴趣与共鸣以及参与抗战话语构建的热情和行动。

Fifth, expand new media channels, innovatively shape the international communication discourse system through multimodality, and deepen the international influence of War of Resistance narrative communication. Actively construct and innovate multimodal discourse methods and communication forms to enhance the appeal and immersive sense of the War of Resistance story, and improve communication effectiveness. Further improve the construction of digital international narratives and discourse systems, and enhance the sense of the times, technological sense, and interactive sense of the international communication of China’s War of Resistance story. Through real-scene interaction, light and shadow touch control, and other technologies, create immersive experience spaces, realizing the expression of War of Resistance narratives from static to dynamic, from single to three-dimensional, and from one-way communication to two-way interaction. However, it should also be remembered that true innovation is not about showing off skills, but about giving history warmth through technology; content narrative is always the core of telling China’s War of Resistance story well.

第五，拓展新媒体渠道，多模态创新形塑国际传播话语体系，深化抗战叙事传播的国际影响力。积极构建和创新多模态话语方式、传播形式，增强抗战故事的吸引力、沉浸感，提升传播效果。进一步完善数字化国际叙事、话语体系建设，增强中国抗战故事的国际传播时代感、科技感和交互感。通过实景交互、光影触控等技术，打造沉浸式体验空间，实现抗战叙事从静态到动态、从单一到立体、从单向传播到双向互动的表达。但也应谨记，真正的创新不是炫技，而是通过技术赋予历史以温度，内容叙事始终是讲好中国抗战故事的核心。

Sixth, deepen transnational exchanges, enhance international cooperation, actively open up international education channels, reduce the spread of misunderstandings and errors at the source, and promote the deep integration of China’s War of Resistance narrative into the world. It is necessary to attach importance to the advantage of international friends, international students, and travelers in “connecting China and the world” in international communication, and cultivate and unite international groups that know China, are friendly to China, and are close to China. Fully explore international education channels, deepen the education of international students in the history of China’s War of Resistance, and let more groups understand the historical significance of China’s War of Resistance. Actively carry out international exchanges, deepen transnational cooperation with academic institutions, attract global intellectual resources, enhance the capacity for source supply, promote the deepening of cognition, and expand discourse influence.

第六，深化跨国交流，增进国际合作，积极开辟国际教育渠道，从源头上减少歧误传播，推动中国抗战叙事深度融入世界。要重视国际友人、国际学生、旅人在国际传播中“连通中外”的优势发挥，培养和团结知华、友华、亲华的国际群体。充分开拓国际教育渠道，深化留学生中国抗战史课程教育，让更多群体了解中国抗战的历史意义。积极开展国际交流，深化与学术机构的跨国合作，吸引全球智力资源，增强源头供给能力，推动认知深化、扩大话语影响。

(The author is a researcher at the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

（作者系中国社会科学院新闻与传播研究所研究员）