Capitalism and Coolitude: Immigrant Experiences in Andrew Suknaski’s Poem “The Gold Mountain”
Abstract
Canada is a kaleidoscope of divergent nationalities and cultures. This mélange of cultures, the crisis of multiculturalism, the marginalized existence of native and immigrant cultures got reflected in the Canadian literary mirror. Andrew Suknaski is an Ukranian Canadian poet of the twentieth century. His poems are innovative for its experimental tone and techniques. His poems also deal with realistic narrations about the native and immigrant cultures. The Land They Gave (1982), Wood Mountain Poems (1976) and The Ghosts Call You Poor (1978) are his most popular poems. Suknaski’s poem “The Gold Mountain” with its lucid diction and realistic imagery emphasizes the hostile conditions suffered by the immigrants in the foreign land. The Gold Mountain in the poem refers to Canada. The poem focuses on the plight of the Chinese immigrants who migrated to Canada to work as labourers on the construction of rail road. Globalization and immigrations provide a fertile groundfor the capitalist economy to flourish. Capitalism is concerned only in increasing production by reducing its economic output in the form of labour and the same mechanism is exercised on the Chinese labourers immigrated to Canada. “The Gold Mountain” portrays how the dreams of Chinese immigrants are being shattered because of the capitalist exploitations by the authorities.
Copyright (c) 2018 Amrutha Mohan
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