WCL7: Chinese migrant worker poetry, part 1
Working Class History
Working Class History
5.0 • 813 Ratings
🗓️ 10 October 2024
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we discuss the concept of the 'migrant worker' in China, and how it relates to the internal hukou system and China's relationship to global capitalism. We also discuss what we mean by 'migrant worker/migrant worker poetry' in relation to the Chinese words dagong and dagong shige. We also look at two migrant worker poets, Wu Xia and Zheng Xiaoqiong.
Full show notes including sources, further reading, photos, films and eventually a transcript are here on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-7-9-chinese-migrant-worker-poetry/
Acknowledgements
- As always, huge thanks to our patreon supporters who make this podcast possible. A special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano.
- Our theme tune for these episodes is ‘A Young Man from the Village’ by the New Labour Art Troupe, from the Migrant Worker Home. Stream it here.
- This episode was produced by Jack Franco and edited by Jesse French.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 2002, three Chinese workers who had migrated from their rural hometowns |
| 0:05.0 | founded the migrant worker home on the outskirts of Beijing. |
| 0:09.0 | The home served as a community and cultural centre for China's precariously employed migrant workers, |
| 0:15.0 | including a theatre, a writers group with its own literary journal, |
| 0:19.0 | and a museum of migrant worker culture and art. |
| 0:22.6 | It was shut down by the government last year after over 20 years of activity. |
| 0:26.6 | This is working class literature. Before we get started, just a quick reminder that our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. |
| 0:59.0 | Our supports fund our work and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, |
| 1:04.0 | add free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merch and other content. |
| 1:09.0 | For example, our Patreon supporters can listen to all three parts of this series now, |
| 1:14.0 | as well as an exclusive Patreon-only bonus episode that goes into more detail about the |
| 1:18.7 | migrant worker home, some of the writers that we discuss and their influences. |
| 1:23.5 | Join us or find out more on patreon.com slash working class history. Link in the show notes. |
| 1:30.3 | This series is going to be a bit different from our previous ones in that it was co-produced and will be presented by our good friend Jack Franco, who has been working on the topic of Chinese migrant worker poetry for some time. |
| 1:42.1 | Obviously much of the work by Chinese migrant work of poets remains untranslated, |
| 1:47.0 | but there are a few fantastic translated volumes that we've used for these episodes. |
| 1:51.0 | Specifically, we would highly recommend Iron Moon, an anthology of Chinese migrant work of poetry, |
| 1:57.0 | published by White Pine Press in 2016, as well as In the Roar of the Machine, |
| 2:02.6 | a collection of poems by Zhang Xiaochong, who we discussed later in this episode, published |
| 2:07.8 | by Giramondo Publishing in 2022, both translated by Eleanor Goodman. These collections are fantastic |
| 2:14.5 | and will include links to buy them on the web page for the the series along with links to a number of books about Chinese history. |
| 2:21.1 | A quick note that some Chinese names can sound quite different to how they're written |
... |
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