Collective Memory

JCC — pp. 1-17 2026-07-20 Original Memory in Motion: The Configuration of Korean War Memory in Chinese Popular Representations Xiaowen Cheng, Jinhong Li Abstract China’s Korean War memory moves in and out of view, but rarely returns unchanged. This article asks how Chinese popular representations of the Korean War vary as the foreign relationships embedded in the war shift. It develops a configurational account of wartime memory, emphasizing activation, selection, and mediation across state priorities, nationalist repertoires, and media institutions. Drawing on a near-comprehensive corpus of theatrically released Chinese Korean War films, alongside close readings of influential print and screen texts, it traces three periods: canonization, latency, and security revival. Chinese sacrifice and victory endure; the United States remains central, but negative portrayals of US soldiers become less common; solidarity with North Korea recedes; Soviet participation remains largely unmentioned; and China’s intervention is increasingly framed as national defense.

JCC — pp. 1-18 2026-07-16 Original Cultivated Memories and Selective Nationalism in China: Evidence on the United States and Russia Yu Liu, Tuo Chen Abstract Despite China’s similarly complex modern relationships with both the United States and Russia, contemporary Chinese public opinion is far more favorable toward Russia than toward the United States. Why? Combining observational analysis, survey experiments, and conventional regression, we argue that state regulation of collective memory about the two countries plays a key role in producing this selective nationalism. Using original data from two survey experiments in China, we show that exposure to more balanced historical information, rather than the one-sided narratives promoted by the state, reduces both anti-Americanism and pro-Russian sentiment. We also find that educational attainment, as a vehicle for political indoctrination, is associated with stronger anti-American and pro-Russian views. Our study highlights memory engineering as a powerful instrument of political misinformation.