Author(s)

Yaqian Lian ¹, Min Wu ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Xi'an Peihua University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710199, China

Corresponding Author

Yaqian Lian

ABSTRACT

As a carrier for inheriting historical memory and promoting national spirit, anti-war films can provide a continuous source of spiritual motivation for national prosperity and rejuvenation. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the film "Nanjing Photo Studio" was released. The film adopts a perspective of ordinary people to look back on history, and based on respecting historical facts, it relies on emotional narration to gain widespread acclaim from audiences, triggering emotional resonance and social discussion among the public. Therefore, this paper takes Nanjing Photo Studio as the research object to systematically analyze its emotional narrative strategy. The study finds that the film revolves around three major emotional motifs: family love, friendship, and love. On the emotional level, it creates immersive sensory impact through audiovisuals, evokes deep empathy by showing the arc of fate, and reflects on oneself and others to construct a connection between ancient and modern times on the action level. This strengthens the authenticity and appeal of historical memory, achieves modern translation of historical memory and deep-level interaction with audience emotions, and also provides a practical example for anti-war films to inherit spirit and establish values in contemporary contexts.

KEYWORDS

"Dead To Rights"; Anti-Japanese War films; Emotional narrative strategies; Civilian perspective

CITE THIS PAPER

Yaqian Lian, Min Wu. A Study on the Emotional Narrative Strategies in the Anti-Japanese War Film "Dead To Rights". Journal of Sociology and Ethnology (2026). Vol. 8, No. 2, 44-49. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/jsoce.2026.080207.

REFERENCES

[1] Teng Chao. "Dead To Rights": Articulating the Main Theme of the War of Resistance with Calmness and Self-Restraint [N]. Beijing News, 2025-07-25 (B6)
[2] Cui Jiandong. "Dead To Rights": "Photographing" History, Revealing the True "Face" [J]. Film Art, 2025, (5):105-108.
[3] Mei Xiaoya, Zhu Yuanjin. From Personal Witness to Collective Memory: On the Symbolic Construction and Narrative Strategy of "Dead To Rights"[J]. Film Review, 2025, (20):27–33
[4] Guo Shan. The Use of Cultural Symbols and the Expression of National Spirit in "Dead To Rights" [J]. Film Literature, 2026, (3):92–96.
[5] Song Xinyue. The Field of Common People's Gaze and Memory: Traumatic Narration and Aesthetic Practice in "Dead To Rights" [J]. Film Literature, 2025, (21):154–160.

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

---

• Journal of Language Testing & Assessment
  
  
• Information and Knowledge Management
  
  
• Military and Armament Science
  
  
• Media and Communication Research
  
  
• Journal of Human Movement Science
  
  
• Art and Performance Letters
  
  
• Lecture Notes on History
  
  
• Lecture Notes on Language and Literature
  
  
• Philosophy Journal
  
  
• Science of Law Journal
  
  
• Journal of Political Science Research
  
  
• Advances in Broadcasting