Traumatic Memory and Social Identity: The Public Construction of the Nanjing Massacre's Historical Recognition

Abstract

The Nanjing Massacre is an unmentionable World War II memory. Haunted by such a typical traumatic memory, the victims of the Nanjing Massacre are experiencing a social identity crisis which is subtle but should by no means be overlooked. There is no shortage of “national humiliation” arguments lamenting for their misfortune and raging over their servility. Yet at the same time, there are also face-saving attempts to deliberately amplify the Chinese people’s resistance during the Massacre. These are all modern representations of the social identity crisis facing the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. 2017 marked the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. Those who have not experienced that holocaust tend to blame the victims’ lack of resistance spirit. Fundamentally, such criticism roots in no appropriate access to the real situation of the Nanjing Massacre and the extreme helplessness of those victims in the face of death. The underestimation of the power of extreme situations leads to the above fundamental attribution error. Therefore, China must construct a shared traumatic memory to secure the most extensive possible social identity for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Keywords

• nanjing massacre;
• traumatic memory;
• social identity
• historical recognition