人與物件的時光之旅──論董啟章《天工開物•栩栩如真》的物（家）史書寫

To journey along time for beings and their objects: An inquisition of object/family history writing in Dong Qizhang’s Tiangong Kaiwu, Xuxu Ruzhen

城市與歷史是董啟章反覆書寫的母題。董啟章從2002年開始了「自然史三部曲」的寫作，展現了與前作迥然不同的寫作圖景，開啟了一種別於同代作家的方法來敘說城市與歷史。V城作為香港的投影，經歷資本主義的持續發展，人與物件不斷集中，兩者間的關係時有改變。本文主要論述方向有二：其一是把《天工開物•栩栩如真》置放於董啟章小說的創作脈絡中，考察董啟章如何運用「文字工場的想像模式」，創造種種已經消逝的「獨特物件」，探討人與物件高度集中的城市裡，兩者如何互相延伸，同時彼此限制的共生關係。其二，細析《天工開物•栩栩如真》別樹一幟的物（家）史寫作模式。寫史本身就離不開編織記憶與時間觀念的闡述；董啟章刻意迴避以家族事件印證歷事大事，以書信體的私密語調追述三代人的家族記憶，以「獨特物件」為敘述起點，呈現了一種波浪形態的時間觀念。最後，本文將會兼及對「可能世界」的討論，指出小說如何恢復我們對時間觀念的多元想像。

City and history have been the writing themes in Dong Qizhang’s works. Since 2002, Dong has begun the writing of A Trilogy of Natural History, which portrays a brand-new landscape of writing distinct from his previous works and turns a new page of narratives in city and history that differs from other writers of the same generation. Being the projected city of Hong Kong, V-cheng has weathered the continuous development of capitalism. People and their objects are being compressed. Their relationships vary from time to time. This article aims to conduct the inquisition from two perspectives. First, it analyses Tiangong Kaiwu, Xuxu Ruzhen in relation to the writing saga in Dong’s novels so as to explore how Dong manipulates “the imaginary pattern of word manufactory plants” to create a number of Les object singuliers in oblivion. It also examines the interdependence of beings and their objects in which they both stretch and limit each other in a dense city of people and objects. Second, the article discusses the unique narrative in Tiangong Kaiwu, Xuxu Ruzhen by object/family history. Historical chronicles are by nature the weave of descriptions of memory and time concepts. Dong deliberately evades cross-referencing significant historical events from anecdotal family history. He uses the personal and intimate register of letters to chronicle the family memory of three generations. Such a narrative beginning from Les object singuliers presents its concept of time in forms of waves. Finally, the article engages in discussions about possible worlds and suggests how novels may trigger our diversified imagination possibilities about the concept of time.