| For my thesis, I will investigate the phenomenon of migrant worker poets in postsocialist China and the politics involved in their production of poetry. These worker poets come from rural areas in China and go to work in factories along the East Coast, and in their spare time write poetry that often involves experiences in the workplace. In my thesis, I will place their poems within a larger historical context by drawing connections between these writers and the development of proletarian literature during the socialist period. Then, I will do a close analysis of keywords and metaphors to explore how these writers conceptualize labor and their relation to the nation. Finally, I will explore how these writers are engaging in dissensus and providing a critique of Chinese postsocialist society through poetic metaphors and their act of writing. |
