從「梅麗」到「美麗」：從現代性視角看西西《美麗大廈》

Xi Xi's Reflection of Modernity in The Merry Building

城市書寫是西西寫作中的顯學，然而相較於《我城》、《飛氈》等小說，《美麗大廈》卻甚少引起學界注目。本文以「現代性」為視角進入西西書寫香港城市之小說《美麗大廈》。論文首先聚焦於《美麗大廈》中電梯正常運轉部分，以德勒茲（Gilles Deleuze）在《時間－影像》（Cinema2: The Time - Image）中所提出的純視聽影像（pure optical and sound image），即現代性情境中感知－運動圖式之斷裂形成的視聽符號世界，論析居民之間的疏離、其面對情境的無反應以及失語狀態。然後將焦點放置於《美麗大廈》中電梯壞掉以後的居民生活，探討西西對現代性的回應方法──懷舊（nostalgia），即藉電梯壞掉之事件使大廈居民重返前現代社會，使用博伊姆（Svellana Boym）《懷舊的未來》中對懷舊的探討以及由此提出的兩種懷舊──修復型懷舊（restorative nostalgia）與反思型懷舊（reflective nostalgia），來探討西西的懷舊所所具有的複雜特質。

Xi Xi is devoted to city writing, but The Merry Building hasn't attracted much attention compared to My City and The Flying Carpet until now. This paper takes the perspective of modernity to discuss Xi Xi's novel: The Merry Building. First, it will analyze alienation, nonresponse and aphasia among residents living in ''the merry building''. Gilles Deleuze's pure optical and sound image which is mentioned in Cinema 2: The Time-Image will be used in this part. Then, it will pay attention to the novel where the elevators were broken and discuss how Xi Xi made residents go back premodern life with nostalgia. Svellana Boym's theory on nostalgia and her two categories of nostalgia, which are restorative nostalgia and reflective nostalgia, will be explained to discuss the traits of Xi Xi's nostalgia in The Merry Building.