My Story of Us: A Comparative Analysis of Alberto Prunetti and Fan Yusu's Working-Class Life Writing

This chapter analyses the life narratives of two contemporary working-class writers: Alberto Prunetti (Italy) and Fan Yusu (China). Both share similar creative, aesthetic, and historical preoccupations, and engage with writing as an expressive form beyond mere commentary. The chapter investigates the relation between fiction and nonfiction in their work; parental figures as incarnations of their sensibilities towards history; and the main formal techniques and aesthetic strategies operative in their writing. By doing so, the chapter demonstrates the validity of a comparative perspective on working-class literatures today to better grasp pressing issues concerning the identities of labour globally.