The Washington Post Book World, The Christian Science Monitor and Business Week evaluated a book “one of the best books of the year,” and Times even named it “one of the top ten books of the year.” This highly evaluated and appreciated book’s title is Factory Girls. (Times: PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE’s review: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/books/review/Keefe-t.html)
What is Factory Girls?
Factory Girls is a honest review and confession that the author, Leslie T. Chang, has witnessed in China. In her book, Chang mainly discusses the struggle that Chinese migrant workers are facing in an industrial area called Dong Guan; she provides specific and direct accounts of individuals who are actually involved in the blue-collar industry. The book is fresh and new since it is not merely asserting for the betterment of environment of Chinese migrant workers’ working places, bur also it pays attention to the migrant workers’ personal backgrounds and daily lives. Furthermore, in her book, Chang attempts to reclaim her identity as a Chinese American. Her book develops the story in unique style of talking back and forth about her family history in China and migrant workers’ struggle in Dong Guan.
Great Opportunity to Read and Learn
It is rare opportunity to explore what the migrant workers are really into and what they do for their free times. Factory Girls provide great guide for its readers to travel in industrial Dong Guan and see what it is like in China. The book is the very first book of Leslie T. Chung and information regarding her on Internet databse is very limited. I believe this introduction will be a great opportunity for readers, who have deep interest in contemporary China and its rapidly shifting economy, to explore the world of industrial China represented by migrant workers in Dong Guan.
Her Visit to Concordia International School Shanghai
Lesile T. Chang, who has written such fabulous story, had visited Concordia International School Shanghai, an American-Curricula based school located in Shanghai, China, to meet her fans and readers. The book review was held on March 18 for two hours. The author meeting session was first started with Chang introducing her book and explaining what motives made her to start writing the book. After that, participants could have opportunity to ask questions to Chang. During the session, Chang had introduced interesting facts and opinions, and followings are responses made by Chang to few questions.
A Conversation With Leslie T. Chang
*Questions, Q, from Participants and Answer, A, from Leslie T. Chang
Q: There are so many stories to write about in China. Why focus on migrants?
A: As I mention in the book, the project began with a bit of an agenda: The foreign press, including Wall Street Journal, where I worked, had already published stories about the terrible conditions in the factories. They tended to portray about the terrible conditions in the factories. They tended to portray migration as a desperate act without much of a payoff for people. I had a suspicion that there must be more to this, that perhaps things were not so black and white. Even though migrant workers inhabit the specific world of the factory, their stories are also the story of contemporary China writ large. Migrants’ stories are not merely their story but that of contemporary China.
Q: A lot of what we’re accustomed to reading about China, like political dissidents, protests, pollution, is absent from your book. Did you make a conscious decision to stay away from these issues?
A: No, I was just responding to what the migrants wanted to talk about, and those issues almost never came up.
Q: You write that you began to research your family history around the time you started work on the book. At what point did you decide that these two stories belonged together?
A: The initial impetus to look into my family history was logistical. I had just spent two weeks in Min’s family village over the lunar new year before I started book leave from The Wall Street Journal; with more free time on my hands, I decided to visit my own ancestral villages. After I returned, I started thinking about my family village and Min’s village, my grandfather’s story and the migrants’ story, and I realized there were parallels between these two moments in Chinese history.
Even though Leslie T. Chang’s visit to Concordia was only brief, it was a great opportunity for readers to share and discuss their thoughts with Chang. Furthermore, I firmly believe Chang has successfully provided motives for people to see and understand the dichotomy of rural and urban, poor and rich, and underdevelopment and cutting-edge technology within rapidly emerging China.
Factory Girls is a honest review and confession that the author, Leslie T. Chang, has witnessed in China. In her book, Chang mainly discusses the struggle that Chinese migrant workers are facing in an industrial area called Dong Guan; she provides specific and direct accounts of individuals who are actually involved in the blue-collar industry. The book is fresh and new since it is not merely asserting for the betterment of environment of Chinese migrant workers’ working places, bur also it pays attention to the migrant workers’ personal backgrounds and daily lives. Furthermore, in her book, Chang attempts to reclaim her identity as a Chinese American. Her book develops the story in unique style of talking back and forth about her family history in China and migrant workers’ struggle in Dong Guan.
Great Opportunity to Read and Learn
It is rare opportunity to explore what the migrant workers are really into and what they do for their free times. Factory Girls provide great guide for its readers to travel in industrial Dong Guan and see what it is like in China. The book is the very first book of Leslie T. Chung and information regarding her on Internet databse is very limited. I believe this introduction will be a great opportunity for readers, who have deep interest in contemporary China and its rapidly shifting economy, to explore the world of industrial China represented by migrant workers in Dong Guan.
Her Visit to Concordia International School Shanghai
Lesile T. Chang, who has written such fabulous story, had visited Concordia International School Shanghai, an American-Curricula based school located in Shanghai, China, to meet her fans and readers. The book review was held on March 18 for two hours. The author meeting session was first started with Chang introducing her book and explaining what motives made her to start writing the book. After that, participants could have opportunity to ask questions to Chang. During the session, Chang had introduced interesting facts and opinions, and followings are responses made by Chang to few questions.
A Conversation With Leslie T. Chang
*Questions, Q, from Participants and Answer, A, from Leslie T. Chang
Q: There are so many stories to write about in China. Why focus on migrants?
A: As I mention in the book, the project began with a bit of an agenda: The foreign press, including Wall Street Journal, where I worked, had already published stories about the terrible conditions in the factories. They tended to portray about the terrible conditions in the factories. They tended to portray migration as a desperate act without much of a payoff for people. I had a suspicion that there must be more to this, that perhaps things were not so black and white. Even though migrant workers inhabit the specific world of the factory, their stories are also the story of contemporary China writ large. Migrants’ stories are not merely their story but that of contemporary China.
Q: A lot of what we’re accustomed to reading about China, like political dissidents, protests, pollution, is absent from your book. Did you make a conscious decision to stay away from these issues?
A: No, I was just responding to what the migrants wanted to talk about, and those issues almost never came up.
Q: You write that you began to research your family history around the time you started work on the book. At what point did you decide that these two stories belonged together?
A: The initial impetus to look into my family history was logistical. I had just spent two weeks in Min’s family village over the lunar new year before I started book leave from The Wall Street Journal; with more free time on my hands, I decided to visit my own ancestral villages. After I returned, I started thinking about my family village and Min’s village, my grandfather’s story and the migrants’ story, and I realized there were parallels between these two moments in Chinese history.
Even though Leslie T. Chang’s visit to Concordia was only brief, it was a great opportunity for readers to share and discuss their thoughts with Chang. Furthermore, I firmly believe Chang has successfully provided motives for people to see and understand the dichotomy of rural and urban, poor and rich, and underdevelopment and cutting-edge technology within rapidly emerging China.
'청소년 기자단' 카테고리의 다른 글
| The World Trade Center Wakes (0) | 2011.04.21 |
|---|---|
| A Wanted Doctor (0) | 2011.04.19 |
| 세상을 따뜻하게 하는, 아우인형 이야기 (6) | 2011.04.15 |
| 골목길을 따라 떠난 100년전, 근대사로의 시간여행 (1) | 2011.04.13 |
| New Writing Style: Portraying with the Headlight on One’s Car (2) | 2011.04.12 |