長期以來海峽兩岸各自的抗戰史論述，主要以民族國家的大歷史敘事為主軸，並將焦點集中於政治、軍事面向，以從上看下的角度詮釋抗戰。學界現在開始反思這套認識框架的利弊得失，試圖讓「人」 重新回到歷史，由過去以國家、集體觀點，轉換成由下而上、個人的、庶民觀點重新書寫抗戰史，以進一步挖掘歷史的多元與複雜性。口述歷史訪問呈現個人的抗戰記憶，則成為發掘新的面向與課題的重要材料。作者試圖藉由分析口述資料紀錄的個人戰爭體驗，理解戰爭、國族政治對身處不同地理空間的群體產生的影響，並探討個人與國族政治之間錯綜複雜的互動關係。

In the past, the discourses of the history of the second Sino-Japanese war developed by both sides of the Taiwan Strait were narratives from nation-state scopes, focusing on the political and military aspects. Recently, some researchers have begun revaluating this approach by exploring the complexity and diversity of the history from people’s perspective, a bottom-up view to reinterpret the history of this war. Oral history of individual wartime memories is an important approach to the new directions. By using some oral history publications and analyzing individual war experience, this article investigates how the war and nation-state politics influenced people in different regions, and discusses the complex relationship between the individual and the nation-state.