From the Periphery of Literature: Marginal Urban Lives and Recognition(s) in the Picun Literature Group

The chapter examines the concept of marginality when it comes to Chinese migrant workers’ literature, with a focus on the specific case study constituted by the Picun Literature Group. A creative writing ensemble based in Beijing and made up of rural-urban migrant workers, the group has attracted considerable attention since one of its member, Fan Yusu, became viral in 2017 – an attention largely motivated by the group’s connotation as ‘marginal’. Analysing the group’s nature as a ‘literary mode of production’ based on the interaction of three sets of agents – authors, activists, and ‘mediators’ who connect it with the city’s cultural establishment, the paper critically discusses the multiple ways marginality is ‘fetishised’ to favour the group’s reception and promotion (self-promotion included), but simultaneously contested in the attempt to obtain a sort of literary recognition, as evidenced by the close analysis of a sample of texts produced by members of the group.