“Workers without Borders:” Envisioning Sociality in Xiao Hai’s Poems

Abstract

New worker poetry has emerged as a unique literary voice in contemporary China. This paper places Chinese new workers as the global working class and focuses on the poetics of their global vision. Through a close reading of poems written by Xiao Hai (1980-), one of the prolific worker poets, I argue that the new worker poet constructs global sociality at the levels of aesthetics, social critique, and cultural proposal. Aesthetically, Xiao Hai has borrowed inspiration from classical Chinese poetry, western counter-culture icons, and contemporary avant-garde spirit in his writings on laborers’ ordeals. Global sociality embodies a powerful critique of hierarchical global systems in which laborers are positioned at the bottom. It is also a cultural ideal rooted in revolutionary nostalgia and classical notions, a passionate call for connection among like-minded people, and an awareness of workers’ shared identity. Raising their voices in poetry, Xiao Hai, as well as other worker poets, actively explore opportunities to make their voices heard on a broader scal