Children and War: Anti-Japanese War Propaganda in Southeast Children

Founded in Jinhua in 1939, Southeast Children was a children’s periodical that carried out the core task of Anti-Japanese War propaganda. Its editorial philosophy held national salvation to be the guiding principle of its policy practice with emphasis on the adaptability of the forms of propaganda to children's cognition, psychological characteristics, and life experiences. Against this backdrop, various tactics of propaganda were implemented to ensure a child-appropriate expression of the Anti-Japanese War discourse. These included: using ceremonial occasions like the Double Fourth Children’s Day (4 April), publishing literary and artistic works accessible to children, presenting child role models, and introducing children’s games. Its Anti-Japanese War propaganda helped the magazine play a positive role in promoting national awareness, uniting children, and working with wartime education. Children’s periodicals such as Southeast Children offer an effective window to the intrinsic link between wartime society and its children.

References

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Hang W, 1987, My Experience with Children’s Periodicals, in Editorial Department of Children’s Publishing House (ed.), Studies in Children’s Literature, Vol 25. Children’s Publishing House, Shanghai, 86–87.

Hu Y, 1939, When Enemy Planes Attack. Southeast Children, 1(2): 30–31.

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