International Students in China as Micro-Narrators of Chinese Culture: A Theoretical Framework for Digital Cross-Cultural Communication

Abstract

: As international student mobility to China continues to grow, international students have increasingly become active producers and disseminators of cultural narratives about China through digital media platforms. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how international students in China generate, disseminate, and influence cross-cultural understanding through "micro-narratives"—short-form, personal, and emotionally resonant cultural content shared via social media. Drawing on recent developments in Chinese cultural communication scholarship and established Western theories of narrative, intercultural adaptation, and participatory culture, the framework integrates three interconnected mechanisms: embodied experience activation, narrative framing selection, and platform-mediated amplification. The model addresses the gap between macro-level cultural communication strategy research and micro-level understanding of individual communicative agency, and proposes a mixed-methods research design for empirical validation. This study contributes a new theoretical lens for understanding international students as grassroots agents of cross-cultural communication in an increasingly digital and participatory media environment.