The GULag and Laogai: A Comparative Study of Forced Labor through Camp Literature

This is the first comparative study ever undertaken in an investigation of the history of forced labor in the Soviet Union and China. It makes no claims to be exhaustive, and serves mainly as a foundation to further work in this subject in the near future. Various historical works and documents have been utilized to create, firstly, an acceptable overview of the history of the practice of forced labor in both countries, followed by a short history of so-called 'camp literature', or memoirs written by survivors of forced labor, generally speaking. The main focus is to analyze several key similarities and differences as they are found in examples from both countries.