Description
This study examines how Chinese netizens view Russia and how contested memories shape different perceptions. It categorizes four different perceptions of Russia by pro-Russian groups, “spiritually Soviets,” anti-Russian nationalists, and liberals on China’s social media, who have divergent interpretations of the past. This study contributes a distinct case to the literature on Chinese collective memory and facilitates an understanding of Sino-Russian relations at the social level. Theoretically, it contributes to the emerging field of memory studies and international relations by highlighting the complexity of the past and the instability between the past and the present. Scholars tend to regard the past as having a “clear” and stable effect on present-day international politics; however, this article finds that when a collective memory concerns multiple significant but symbolically and ideologically competing historical events, it can become a divisive force that creates confusion in the self-other relationship and motivates different social groups to resist and revise official narratives.
