Politicization and de-politicization of history: The evolution of international studies of the Nanjing Massacre

Abstract

The history of the Nanjing Massacre, a very controversial as well as politically and morally sensitive subject, has been politicized to a great extent. The politicization of the history of the Nanjing Massacre, however, has not been thoroughly and carefully studied nor has it received enough attention. Generally it is very difficult to discern the skillfully politicized narration in a piece of historical writing and it is even more difficult to establish a fair and internationally acceptable standard to judge if a monograph on a past event of transnational conflict is politicized or not. Kitamura Minoru titled his book The Politics of Nanjing to emphasize and analyze the politicized nature of the writings on the Nanjing Massacre, but neither is his own work on the subject An Impartial Investigation as he claimed in the book title. As a matter of fact, as the history of the Nanjing Massacre increasingly encountered challenges from new evidence and new interpretations or the Denial School of Japan, readers found that some historians, whether Chinese, Japanese or American, were quite unprofessional in their historical analysis due to their nationalist or political-ideological stand. Indeed, the professionalism of historians in the field has never been so seriously challenged and threatened. Can historical writing be objectively the craft of history professionals or is it inevitably the subjective product of historians who have been more or less influenced by moral, political, or ideological elements? Can the truth and common interpretation of a past transnational conflict such as the Nanjing Massacre ever be discerned if historians' views of the event are divided? One may ask if the history of the Nanjing Massacre has been politicized. If so, to what extent and how has the history of the Nanjing Massacre been politicized? Can we depoliticize the politicized history? How can we do it? All these are challenges that historians must deal with. To meet these challenges is also the main purpose of this paper.