November 25, 2009

Fragments of Angel's Maps - a prose-poem / Sebastian Ysz-kit Yim

A
Everybody is here, having a worldly, speedy yet tragic-comic party: men and women, boys and girls, buyers and sellers, walkers, loners, strangers, the exploiter and the exploited. But he is not one of them. An outsider. He cannot figure out why, he simply isn’t - confidently and assuredly the angel spreads his wings . . .

B
flying . . . singing . . . dancing . . . moving . . . remembering . . .

再見銅鑼灣 / Wayne Wong

曾經,在喧鬧的銅鑼灣
虛度了好些日子。只有十六歲的我
握著新力的 MD Walkman
從時代廣場的鐘樓到維多利亞公園
在人與光影的急流中
隨心地挑了一首
以音樂和想象力細讀城市的平凡:

一對因為吵架而沒有過斑馬線的情侶
幾個打扮鮮艷的菲傭在自制的夏威夷布景板前拍照
一群亢奮地參與〈城市論壇〉的維園阿伯
和頭上寫著「耶穌愛你」的艷紅色大型燈箱

一切都在音樂的調配下成了mise-en-scène
鏡頭遠遠超越我的所見
剪接往往於毫秒間完成
於無盡的自編自導自演中
拍出一部部充滿 enchantment 的 MV
靠的是永恒和瞬間之間的感動
無律可循,也無跡可尋
我的少年就在這樣的白日夢中渡過

現在,我失去了想像的興致
卻換來一張淡紫色的學生證
從前因失學而遊蕩的深紫色月台
被賦予了實在的理由,原因和目的
結識了馬克思,尼采和 Derrida
卻遺忘了王家衛
或許,生活就是一個失去浪漫的過程
被 disenchanted 的不是銅鑼灣
而是我那雙「鏡頭」:

世貿巨型液晶屏幕裏的新聞報道
停泊在柏寧酒店外的保時捷
和回到薄扶林的31號小巴

The Man who Keeps Movie Tickets / Kelly Chun-laam Ma

It was a lovely evening, with a delicious dinner, an interesting conversation with a friend, and a good movie. On his way home he listened to his iPod, letting his own thoughts take him wherever they wanted. He took the elevator, walked through the hallway and opened the door to his apartment. Lights were turned on, and earphones were taken off. The music was still loud and clear enough.

Instead of taking off his coats and shoes or checking the messages, he went straight into his bedroom, and switched on his computer and scanner swiftly. Everything’s ready – he got his wallet from one of the pockets on his coat, and slowly took out the movie ticket that he kept, the ticket of Departures which he saw a few hours ago at AMC Festival Walk, and put it on the scanner. After a few seconds an image of the ticket was seen on the computer screen, and he saved the file, so that he could keep a soft copy of the movie ticket.

與桂華逛街 / Sylvia Lok-wan Ng

我牽著你走到人來人往的街中
你看著店舖前的人龍,問
他們是否為了輪水而排隊

我看得入了神
幽靈一般的他們提著剛添置的手袋
皮袋上的花紋跟滿足的笑臉一樣公式化
排著最前頭的幽靈打開了袋
鬆開了水龍頭
清涼的水哇啦哇啦地注滿了神聖的容器

你說,你再也聽不見從前的笑聲
假日的街道
因為被幽靈霸佔了而變得寧靜
你眼中只有搖晃的影像
他們走得太快,而你看得太慢

你說,你唯一能看清的是從前的風景
但幽靈供給的養份令大廈只能長高
歲月定格在發黃的照片
我反覆默唸你的一字一句
也無法拼湊成完整的故事

我牽著你,在幽靈之間穿插
就如你曾經牽著我走過緩慢的長街

(20090324)

The Bright Eyes in City / Ellen Sin-tung Lau

In an empty tram, on a freezing night,
Her sparkling eyes look up to the sky,
But gliding ghosts shimmer across her eyes,
She views only the fluorescent shines.

With frames of windows and grids of tram wires,
Her sky is fragmented into hundreds of pies,
But lines become easel and magic brushes arise,
Van Gogh revives, paints Starry Night in her mind.

Inside a tidy room, in a tall building among skyscrapers,
Her slander body peacefully leans on a huge Nutcracker,
She sights Jardine’s outlook through the transparent glass,
But scenery is eclipsed by the blocks of high-classes.

With high-rise buildings and rays from the windows,
Her mountain is covered with lights and shadows,
But they become spotlights setting in a grand theatre,
Ballerina appears, dances with the Christmas Nutcrackers.

Speedy, bounded and packed modern city,
Sights and feelings are framed, what a pity!
But billions of eyes, peep out amid the sky,
Hopes and imaginations arrive time by time.

Enchantments appear with their bright, shiny eyes.

Ellen Sin-tung Lau is a student from CLIT2018 Critiques of Modernity 2008-2009 second semester.

merry merry-go-round / Kelly Ying-nga Tse

fly. flew. flown. the balloons. amidst the big jocund boom
the Ocean Park at 8:27 dusk or dawn
the colours who is flirting, frisking, frolicking with
the amplified speed of musical sounds

the memory of the merry-go-round . . .

you muttered to my locket (did you not?) for new photos.
i had given you, i murmured to your queer eye (oh dear left or right?), the new photos.
you tittered: by new photos, you meant photos taken with my
new (it was your ‘new’) Nokia cell.
i taunted: those photos were taken with my
new (it was my ‘new’) Nokia cell.

no sweet surrender. ne’er. ne’er.

the balloons. caught in the uphill of Eason’s ferris wheel. flicker. flitter. flutter.
outside Pacific Coffee, perchance at the other end of
the Pacific Ocean. 12:18. when time was
long. time was wrong at who and who’s playground


still the memory of the merry-go-round . . .

i spoke to your perfume (transparent or indifferent?): how do you fancy
Yuan of Half a Life?
you nodded or shook your head: I’m not an aficionado of pseudo-romantic plights . . .
the metamorphosis of your mouth, the curve of which cared
naught.
gone was the pulse, gone was the beat, gone was
love’s sublimated heat. hereafter or
ne’er ever after.
your melancholic perfume, my not-so-fragrant spleen.

the balloons. fall. fell. fallen. pregnant with old tunes.
9:19 the velocity of Central’s escalators,
who are lifted to the Peak of Bauhinia? who are
drawn to the abyss of the bygone past?


still the silent memory of the merry-go-round . . . 

you basked in the mellow, which was the string of your guitar. apathetic you were to
the string of my heart’s chamber
you chortled (you always did)
          I scorned
you smoked
          I sighed (alas!)

round the marred merry-go-round. the balloons of
lost times. lost paradise.
round the marred merry-go-round. i am but a
circus clown (attired in memories of four pounds):
‘Merry merry-go-round!’


Kelly Ying-nga Tse is a student from CLIT2018 Critiques of Modernity 2008-2009 second semester.

Spiral Dreams 漩渦 / Shirley Wing-yan Lai

在天氣晴朗的春天,落日的陽光使中山階染上了一片橙黃色,令人感覺到何謂「夕陽無限好,只是近黃昏」。

在中山階上,小凝拉住子健的手說﹕『今晚可以跟你、阿雪和文偉到賽西湖的別墅,好期待啊!』

子健嘴角微微上揚說﹕『你興奮得像一個期待學校旅行的小孩……』突然,子健的手提電話響了﹕『喂! 張教授,是……是……好,無問題……那麼,待會見。』

Dr. Din / Annie Siu-kwan Lau

Reflection
I feel obliged to consult advice from a doctor in the light of the possible outbreak of swine flu, as I am seemingly healthy but actually vulnerable to many kinds of illness including the common flu. The idea of 'consulting a doctor' inspires me to interview local doctors about their memory of Hong Kong: Were all of them 'brave' and 'determined' to flight against the SARS epidemic in 2003, only aiming at 'curing patients' and not afraid of being infect or of dying, like what television portrayed? I know I shall not turn to the 'common group' since my aim is not to question or to challenge their occupation moral. My aim is to hear a story of Hong Kong from the perspective of a local doctor. I realize there was a group of people who was not in the limelight during the SARS outbreak, but I believe they should have their voices to be heard. This group of people is the traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.

游走於邊緣的,族群 P / Kenny Chun-kan Leung

初夏的下午其實悶熱得很。拭去衣領邊打轉的汗水,將原來提著的書揣在懷裡,瞥瞥門牌沒錯是九零七室但門卻關得嚴嚴一如封在某洞穴外的巨石。明明不過遲了幾分鐘,於旁人不過爾爾的幾分鐘,為何課堂彷彿已經開始很久了一般呢。將耳朵湊近課室的門,隱約傳來一把男聲,略帶沙啞。就稀奇。課不是由一個初出茅廬的女教授上的嗎。為何會換成一個男生。再瞥瞥門牌沒錯是九零七室。於是起勁推開厚重但冷如薄冰的門。課室竟然幾乎座無虛席。就稀奇。彷彿好些從未上課的同學,又甚至未曾存在過於這空間的人都一併出現。隨便鑽到死角,瞥見僅存的空位就坐下。前面果然是個年輕男子,在口沫橫飛。那男子約莫二十多歲,該是畢業不久的青年,穿淺綠色的恤衫,深棕色筆直長褲。頭髮長及披肩,並隨著男子改變站立姿勢而左右晃動。天花偌大的電風扇不住轉動,攪拌著死悶凝固的空氣。

I've Made a Memory / Denise Yuen-hang Tse

「哎呀,要講就幾日幾夜都講唔完喇!」
--- My Dearest Grandma 親愛的婆婆

That is grandma’s conclusion when asked to tell me about her story with grandpa, who passed away for more than two decades. The fragments of her life that I picked up together with her are exquisite relics coated with colour of Hong Kong in the 1950’s, colour which I have never seen, and only see in a distance if I could. Although story of grandma and the old Hong Kong would remain as a blurry cloud after the visit, I am more than grateful that I have seized the chance to have a deep talk with her, thanks to this piece of assignment.

My Parents Call Me Ah Fan / Yeung Yim-fan

My parents call me Ah Fan. I liked eating ice-cream and playing in the park as I could enjoy such luxuries that friends of mine could not. The person who could make my dream come true at the time was my father. Therefore, I really cherish the time when my father came back home from a far place. Whenever he came back, he always took my elder brother and I to the park and bought us a cone of ice cream. He was working in a place called Hong Kong when I was small. But such dreams and happiness ended when one day my mum said to me, "We have to move to Hong Kong so that we can reunite with father."

Society of Comparative Literature Bulletin 2008-2009


Revenge - Beyond the Slings and Arrows

Contents

Preface: The Turbulent Voyages of Vengeance / Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung

沒有人問正義和公理的問題——論李維怡小說集《行路難》裡公義倫理的探詢 / 盧勁馳

復仇之花 / 潘國靈

Inauthenticity of Revenge in Hamlet and Chronicle of a Death Foretold / Dr. Paul Kong

沒復仇電影的仇 / 皮亞

《復仇》與復仇 / Winnie Yee

Trauma Revisited / Eliza Man-yee Lau

復仇無界——香港大學學生會文學院學生會比較文學學會 2009 年比較文學節專題展覽

Film Reviews
     《公主復仇記》——公主復仇力量大?/ 馮淑儀
     Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street / Gavin Tse

Acknowledgement

Preface: The Turbulent Voyages of Vengeance / Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung

When you leaf through the following pages of this year’s Comparative Literature Bulletin, you will see how the spirit of revenge has gone through many forms of metamorphosis. From the ancient Hellenic view of divine retribution to contemporary popular modes of vengeance, stories of revenge engage their readers/viewers as much as they consume their creators. Acts of revenge probably embody the strongest emotions ever known to humans; desires of revenge produce a complex matrix of affects where envy, jealousy, indignation, hatred, and love are intertwined with each other.

沒有人問正義和公理的問題──論李維怡小說集《行路難》裡公義倫理的探詢 / 盧勁馳

引言
要談仇恨和政治的關係,國外都有很多關於忌恨政治 (politic of resentment) 的討論,主要指出了社會上的族群衝突,都建立在一種召喚種族認同的情感結構裡,喜歡想象自己是受害者,他人為加害者,藉此建立穩固的族群身份。如台灣學者趙剛有一書名為 《告別妒恨》,正好分析出這種邏輯如何支配著台灣的省籍對立問題,如何令民主社會的發展停滯不前。妒恨政治的最大問題,在於令反抗政治落入了一種復仇的欲望結構之中,沒有好好處理歷史的創口,往往藉著受害者的名義,向其他的社群施以更大的暴力。

每次讀到這種對於復仇政治的分析,都感到一份陌生感,香港的政治不是沒有暴力,只是暴力很少來自受害社群的反撲,在媒體上的少數族裔、新來港人士、性工作者、邊緣少年或受重建影響的街坊,往往只是一面倒地受到各種社會政策文化機制的傷害,在未及把受害提升為反抗政治的資源以前,早就給穩定壓到一切的主流意見河蟹過去。於是,復仇只是一點小眉小眼的個體情感,或許只有一點點的妒恨,甚至妒恨都不是。

復仇之花 / 潘國靈

開筆寫這篇文章前,本想看看杜琪峰最新作品《復仇》,不料上映不久便淡出各大院線。但想想,如果不那麼「名正言順」的話,近作《竊聽風雲》(古天樂最後變身半人半機械般駕車衝過斷橋與王敏德同歸於盡)、《希魔撞正殺人狂》等,也包含「復仇」元素。沒正式統計,主觀印象,近年復仇主題在世界影壇也頗領風騷。

近年的復仇電影
韓國朴贊郁的「復仇三部曲」(《復仇》、《原罪犯》、《親切的金子》)揚名海外,在影像中燃起一片極盡暴烈的復仇火海。電影怪傑昆倫.塔倫天奴的「新娘復仇記」《標殺令》、《標殺令2》拍出奇詭暴力美學,新作《希魔撞正殺人狂》題材風格有別,但貫徹其中的仍有「復仇」母題,逃過納粹追殺的少女,後經營戲院,一把大火把看宣傳片首映的德軍燒清光與菲林同葬。

Inauthenticity of Revenge in Hamlet and Chronicle of a Death Foretold / Dr. Paul Kong

Revenge, etymologically, is from the Old French word vengier, meaning to claim, set free or punish, and the prefix ‘re’ stresses the direction – it’s a reaction targeting ‘back’ to the causer. In other words, ‘revenge’ means the setting free of a desire to inflict punishment in return (usually for injury or insult).

This desire for revenge can easily be noticed in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold. The unjust act, in the former is the murder of Old Hamlet by his brother Claudius, and in the latter is the deflowering of Angela Vicario, which is discovered on the night of her wedding. Hamlet reacts to this by killing Claudius and in a like manner, Angela’s twin brothers, Pedro and Pablo respond to the injury inflicted upon their sister by killing Santiago Nasar, a person named by her when she is pressed as to who the ‘real’ perpetrator is. The irrationality of Pedro and Pablo’s revenge is conspicuous while the one of Hamlet is rather subtle (and this begs a thorough scrutiny in the future). But one commonality regarding the revenge in these two texts is that the act of revenge is carried out on behalf of the victim. This means in these two texts, the avenger acts in the name of, or as the agent of the victim, rather than being the victim himself or herself. This is a reaction by means of substitution – the avenger substituting the victim in inflicting the punishment upon the avenged. In other words, this is a revenge done in the form of substitution for an ‘other’. This other, on one level, is the victim deemed dear and valuable to the avenger. But on a collective and metaphorical level, this sense of the ‘other’ can refer to what Heidegger calls ‘they-hood’, which is present in the ‘they-self’ in each of us.

沒復仇電影的仇 / 皮亞

杜琪峰的電影《復仇》,做了香港、澳門、法國三地文化的紅娘,導演手法保持現代武俠風格,場景設置也富獨特的異國風情,不過較為令人失望的,是沒有拍出三地文化的差異。法籍男主角Johnny Hallyday 年輕時也是殺手,他堅信在酒店偶然碰上的「陌生人」,由黃秋生率領的三人殺手組織,會為他執行殺人任務;同一時間黃秋生等人都「法國佬」的底細也從無過問,難道真是四海之內皆兄弟,有錢使得鬼推磨?當然我們未當過殺手,不知「行內人」如何交易,特別是當黃秋生等殺手,得知最後要殺的主腦,原來就是自己經常合作的黑幫老闆任達華的時候,仍然捨命為陌生的法國佬服務,與黑幫老闆,即是與「自己人」火拼,情操上也就超越了金錢交易的關係(片中也沒有特別強調黃秋生等人被一筆非常巨大的獎金吸引),換句話說,黃秋生等人在執行任務的過程中,與法國佬發生了超越金錢交易的友誼關係,即時武俠片中惺惺相惜的男性情義。更有理由相信,黃秋生等殺手是同情Johnny Hallyday 女兒一家被殺,連孩子也不放過。但吊詭的是,任達華也透露下令殺手追殺的,只是與己有恩怨的男人和女人而己(即Johnny Hallyday 的女兒和丈夫),但執行任務的殺手因為不慎被躲藏的孩子目睹相貌,便毫不猶疑殺人滅口。

《復仇》與復仇 / Winnie Yee

復仇的故事從來不缺,不論中外故事或電影橋段,比比皆是。需要解釋的是,原因何在?為什麼需要復仇?是因為社會上的不公義總不能被解決,又或是人心險惡,世途多難,生存與仇恨本是互為而生?

復仇往往是倖存者的生命動力,也是揭示正邪對立的手段。因此復仇故事往往帶有兩個重要的任命:取回公義、懲罰壞人(Simkin, 26)。一般的故事更是透過復仇的過程,進而探究復仇者內心的狀態和其意識的流動。莎士比亞(WilliamShakespeare)的哈雷姆特《Hamlet 》(1601)便是當中的最佳代表。有了復仇的使命,配上復仇過程中的掙扎,讀者或觀眾便有了思考的空間及時間,逐步代入復仇者的思想歷程,理解並開始認同復仇的迫不得已或其合理性。當然,復仇的使命往往帶出更迫切的思考據點:命運之不可改變,復仇本是不能擺脫的宿命。

Trauma Revisited / Eliza Man-yee Lau

The vision of a world in peace is not only possible, but that it begins here, begins now, with each one of us, looking deeply within, and honoring our limitless potential.
──Sogyal Rinpoche, the author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
A wound can be either physical or psychological. And as far as healing is concerned, psychological wounds are far more complex and difficult to deal with. Medical science has enabled man to assess the extent of damage to the body and to prescribe appropriate measures of cure accurately and in sophisticated ways. However, with regard to psychological traumas, scientists and psychiatric practitioners are still struggling with how such traumas could be properly understood, let alone prescribing appropriate treatment measures or remedy. In the book Trauma: Explorations in Memory, Cathy Caruth wrote:

復仇無界——2009 年比較文學節專題展覽

比較文學節,是比較文學學會一年一度的活動,目的為推廣比較文學,加深同學對此學科的認識。是年,本學會以「復仇」作比較文學節的主題,探索「復仇」於不同文本及文化中呈現之變化。至於此文章是本學會在比較文學節中的專題展覽。

復仇,表面看來是一個簡單的詞語,代表著以牙還牙,血債血償。而對復仇的情節,我們更見怪不怪。但大家有否留意復仇背後的各項因素,以及復仇是否合理?復仇這個題材非常普及,不論是莎翁的《王子復仇記》,還是現代的《公主復仇記》或其他電影小說,也會與復仇有關,從而燃起了本學會對此題目的興趣。本年度比較文學節會帶大家進入復仇的世界,拆解箇中乾坤,突破界限。以下我們會從電影、小說等不同文本分析復仇,以及討論男女復仇是否有別。

《原罪犯》:復仇的出路
《原罪犯》中吳大秀無故遭禁錮十五年,皆因學生時代撞破李宇珍姊弟亂倫一幕而間接害死其姊。他重見天日後誓言手刃仇人,結果自投禁錮者另一個復仇陷阱—他被催眠與自己的女兒美道相愛並交合,最後割舌謝罪,再次催眠自己以忘記二人的父女關係。套用李字珍的一句話:「報仇過,又如何?」復仇本身就是一種催眠,是一場復仇者與受害者的困獸鬥,醒悟後,彼此赫見同是一無所有的受害者。復仇的至高境界是以愛為手段的精神虐待,更要禍及下一代,然而仇恨既源於愛,理應止於愛。《原罪犯》淒美的結局,寓意「忘記」或是復仇的最終出路。

《公主復仇記》——公主復仇力量大? / 馮淑儀


《公主復仇記》 (Beyond Our Ken, 2004)
導演:彭浩翔   編劇:彭浩翔
演員:鍾欣桐   陶紅   吳彥祖

在《大丈夫》中,毛舜筠體面讓丈夫避過捉姦在床的尷尬,《出埃及記》女性則以上帝的姿態殺男人,彭浩翔看似賦予電影女性無限權力,足以與男人抗衡之餘,更可成為愛情角力的主導。說實話,一切只是彭導描述兩性爭權的一貫風格,兜兜轉轉,女性始終苦無權力,只有短暫的心靈慰藉,《公主復仇記》正是最佳體證。

Film Review: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street / Gavin Tse


Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler, Christopher Bond, John Logan
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jayne Wisener, Ed Sanders
“There was a barber and his wife, and she was beautiful…”
The story of Sweeney Todd was a story of lust, betrayal and revenge. Sweeney Todd’s mind was bent on revenge after his wife and daughter had been coveted by a corrupt judge, and himself unjustly hurled into prison. The plot was strikingly similar to Alexandre Dumas’s epic novel The Count of Monte Cristo, hence articulating certain espousals of the traditional revenge plot. Yet while there were strong intertextual echoes to Dumas’s novel, Tim Burton’s stylistic play with colours created a gruesome, bleak, gothic atmosphere within the film. The dark, moody aura signified London as a cannibalistic society, “a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it”. The setting predicated the mode of revenge in the film: the inevitable brutality and ferociousness.

Bulletin 2008-2009: Acknowledgement

Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung
盧勁馳
潘國靈
Dr. Paul Kong
皮亞
Winnie Yee
Eliza Man-yee Lau
馮淑儀
Gavin Tse

Society of Comparative Literature, A.A.H.K.U.S.U., Session 2008-2009
Executive Committee

Chairperson: Carmen Ka-man Mak
Internal Vice-Chairperson: Veronica Wing-wing Chu
External Vice-Chairperson: Gareth Sze-lok Lee
General Secretary & Social Secretary: April Ka-yeng Fung
Financial Secretary & Sports Captain: Winter Yu-hin Cheung
Academic Secretary: Gavin Wing-hin Tse
Publication Secretary: Dora Wing-sum Yeung
Welfare Secretary" Vivian Wai-man Au

Date of publication: October 2009
Editor: Yeung Wing Sum, Dora


Society of Comparative Literature Bulletin 2007-2008




Behind the laughs - Comedies, Cultures and Contradictions

Contents

Preface: The Punch Line in Culture / Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung
 
喜劇之王的迷失 / 清心

漫談「黑色喜劇」 / 馮偉才

The Festive Double: Reading the Image of Home in the Chinese New Year Films by Jeff Lau and Wong Kar-wai / Dr. Fiona Yuk-wa Law

所謂小丑 / 馬然

喜劇與悲劇,一岸之隔 / 潘國靈

喜劇電影「得啖笑」 / 蕭恆

香港大學學生會文學院學生會比較文學學會 2008年比較文學節—專題展覽

Film Reviews
     《表姐,你好嘢!》 / 馮淑儀
     I Heart Huckabees / Amory Ho-wang Hui

Acknowledgement

Preface: The Punch Line in Culture / Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung

Comedy culture is an essential part of any society, just as laughter is an essential part of our everyday life. We laugh during festive times, we laugh on our way to work. We laugh at home, we laugh in the Cultural Centre. We consume so as to laugh, we laugh so as to be consumed. We laugh when the jester falters, we laugh when the festoon cries. We desire the punch line, we forget the punch line. We laugh to “death,” we laugh to be reborn. The comic sees its power in conflicts, incongruities, absurdities, ironic twists and opposites.

With the cinematic trope, Charlie Chaplin once articulated comedy from a temporal point of view, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in a long-shot.” No doubt time changes our perspective of what tragedy and comedy mean. In our own blunders and in life’s many hardships, however, do we not visualize the tragic and the comic as an indestructible pair? Is life not a photograph of double exposure with one image superimposed upon another? Does the tragic not see its own ghostly other in the comic, and vice versa?

喜劇之王的迷失 / 清心

最初接到香港大學比較文學學會邀請撰寫這篇關於「喜劇文化」的文章,心想:談香港的喜劇文化,現在,是一個good timing 嗎?後來知道,原來這是配合學會最近一次文學節的主題。

回顧八、九十年代主導港產電影巿場的兩大片種,的確曾經:一、是動作片(包括英雄片、黑社會或警匪片)。這已構成「港產片」品牌的一部份。二、就是喜劇。而且是獨特的、有著濃厚香港本土文化特色的喜劇。很多時候,喜劇也與賭片和家庭倫理片cross-over,成為香港民間習俗的一環;和我們小時候每每在農曆新年都要進行的一個「儀式」:看「賀歲片」。但隨著香港電影踏入2000 年後整個行業景氣低迷,連整體產量都大大降低了。香港獨有品牌的喜劇,也似乎是消失了。

其實,八、九十年代,香港是崛起了一位仿似從天而降、不依門派章法、恰如他自己就演過的賭聖一般有著「特異功能」、憑藉的是「個人魅力」的喜劇之王──周星馳。然而,也眾所周知,周生早又已不甘於只作為喜劇之王。他早已不只是一位喜劇演員,而是導演。而且是要做一個「偉大」的導演,一個世界級的電影大師。當你已經「成功」,你就要成為「偉大」。自 《少林足球》 以來,周氏已是有意識地降低他本人作為個人魅力的演員──觀眾入場都只是為了看星爺──的重要性。2001 年的 《少林足球》 由陣容到故事結構都十分強調teamwork。事實上,這部作品也做到了──成功地塑造了各師兄弟成為經典的、令人難忘而獨當一面的人物。在這道路上,《少林足球》 可說是成功的。到了2004 年的 《功夫》,阿星的角色已經比較抽空,雖然是「萬中無一的絕世高手」,但阿星比較 fiction。不是漫畫。是「卡通」。漫畫也比較有自己的血肉和立體的個性。

漫談「黑色喜劇」 / 馮偉才

魯迅在 《再論雷峰塔的倒掉》 一文中說:『悲劇將人生的有價值的東西毀滅給人看,喜劇將那無價值的撕破給人看。』(見 《墳》)道出了喜劇的意義。所以我們在 《狂人日記》 和 《阿Q 正傳》 中,看到不少充滿喜劇元素的情節和對話,但同時這些情節和對話又總是讓我們笑中有淚──魯迅就是這樣用喜劇手法把中國封建禮教和中國人劣根性的假面撕破,並且為中國現代短篇小說創下了輝煌的成就。

魯迅寫 《狂人日記》 和 《阿Q 正傳》 時,外國文學理論還沒有出現「黑色喜劇」這個名詞,但這兩篇小說的黑色喜劇成份,今天看來仍然甚具「時代感」。不信?看看周星馳不少逗人發笑的角色,不是都有著阿Q 的影子嗎?在「喜劇」前面冠上「黑色」二字,當然是不同於一般的喜劇。簡單的說,那些讓你看完深思人生意義、社會和文化等問題,以及反省自身存在意義和價值的喜劇,都可以稱作黑色喜劇。

The Festive Double: Reading the Image of Home in the Chinese New Year Films by Jeff Lau and Wong Kar-wai / Dr. Fiona Yuk-wa Law

New Year is a time for fun; it is also the time to plan ahead what one should do in the near future. Chinese New Year is a time both for fun and resuming the Chinese tradition passed on us from the ancestors. In addition to enjoying a variety of food, having a few days’ holiday and paying annual visit to relatives and friends, going to the movie-theatre to watch a spectacular blockbuster or farcical comedy is one of the most popular family activities during this important holiday, especially during the last decades when shops did not open during the Chinese New Year. This is also the time when bunches of local-made Chinese New Year films, or hesuipian (賀歲片), are shown. Laughter and happiness are the objectives of making and watching the Chinese New Year films in the local society. In this paper, I am going to look at what is beyond the laughter and emotional uplifting. I would suggest that the image of home and the homecoming motif are the hidden or unconscious agendas that local audiences have been seeking in their watching experience. In the context of Hong Kong, such a collective film-watching experience in this specific festive time has generated an imagined Chineseness that is persistent in helping to construct a cultural identity, especially before 1997. While I had in other occasions focused on the articulations of Chineseness, here I am framing my presentation on the image of home in the films by Jeff Lau and Wong Kar-wai.[1]

所謂小丑 / 馬然

在一個懶洋洋冬日下午的馬德里,蹣跚著陳列演出陣容的馬戲團在多少有些破敗的鬥牛場內爲了取悅小孩與他們的家人而賣力演出,因為已經到場的關係,即使有些為難,我依然決定留下。本料想演出的內容無甚新鮮,無非是那些馴獸的俗套和插科打諢的把戲 . . . 卻最終因年老小丑的努力耍寶而感動落淚,他們的表演是否爐火純青已不重要,在這面老舊的大蓬下,馬戲團為所有的觀眾隔離出一面與現實悖反的時空之牆。小丑們用一種天真卻愚鈍著的方式呈現他對世界的最荒誕也是最樸素的理解,在那些極盡誇張的肢體表演中,在所有嘲弄與被嘲弄的橋段之間,小丑用他的劇烈或是極端將自視甚高的我們所不為人知的那部分放大呈現,而這場表演的終極觀眾,已經不再僅是那些孩子,也應當包括滄桑成長著的大人。

喜劇與悲劇,一岸之隔 / 潘國靈


電影這門藝術,也許從一開始就是一場把戲。「把戲」的意思是:以假亂真、製造幻象、錯覺,去除夢與真實的邊緣,最後甚至去到費尼里那句名言的境界:『夢是唯一的真實。』

「把戲」之一,少不了是孩童式的、無傷大雅的惡作劇。我們回到「電影之父」盧米埃兄弟(Lumière Brothers)一八九五年的 《Watering the Gardener》:一個男孩踏著園丁在花園中澆水的軟管,水流停頓,園丁不知所解,對著噴嘴查看,這時,男孩從軟管中踏下來,園丁當頭給灑至一身濕透。非常簡單的片段,把觀眾逗得哈哈大笑,成了電影史上第一部喜劇短片。值得注意的是,跟盧米埃兄弟同期拍的實況短片不同,如拍攝工人上班、火車到站──基本上就是以攝影鏡頭如實紀錄即場生活片段 (設下了後來寫實電影的基調),《Watering the Gardener》 的喜劇場景,是第一次經過設計的場面調度。另一個電影先行者──魔術師出身的梅禮葉 (Georges Méliès),則致力為電影注入不少魔幻視覺效果,以動態攝影來製造魔術幻覺,其中不少有趣鏡頭,如 《月球之旅》(Le Voyage dans la Lune)那張給畫了笑臉的月亮,也充滿了喜劇元素。

喜劇電影「得啖笑」 / 蕭恒

叫我說香港喜劇電影,我腦裡浮現出來的,竟然還是九十年代周星馳的 《國產凌凌漆》 與 《大內密探零零發》。近年的喜劇電影,沒有多少齣留下深刻印象。就算是周星馳近年的 《少林足球》、《功夫》 等,都只是不覺得特別好笑。

世界上到底有沒有 universal jokes? 或許有,但我未聽過。Inside jokes 總是最好笑的笑話,但離開了小圈子,外人無從笑起。同理,好笑的喜劇離開了本土,外國人未必懂得笑,最多只是「得啖笑」。笑話十之八九政治不正確,引了一些人發笑也會引起一些人人反感──只是比例多少的問題。

2008年比較文學節—專題展覽 / 香港大學比較文學學會

每年比較文學學會也會就特定主題,舉行比較文學節,包括了開幕典禮、電影播放、專題展覽和座談會等不同活動。而每年的學報,也多以比較文學節的主題來準備,探討有關比較文學的題目。本年,比較文學學會選取了「搏盡諗笑料,真喺得啖笑?」為主題,特此在本學報收錄了本年比較文學節專題展覽的內容。

簡介
説起喜劇,許多人會立刻想起銀幕上,一幕幕詼諧的情節。很多故事也會滲透喜劇元素:動作片、恐怖片、愛情片等。但所謂喜劇,不止包括電影,更可以是電視劇、舞台劇、棟篤笑等,因此我們難以為喜劇下定義。

然而,喜劇的原意,是否只為讓你捧腹大笑那樣簡單?究竟為甚麼喜劇會令你笑?當你笑的同時,是否每人也認為可笑?本土文化和歷史背景跟喜劇又有何關係?

電影評論: 《表姐,你好嘢!》/ 馮淑儀

《表姐,你好嘢!》 (1990)
導演:張堅庭
編劇:張堅庭、黃宏基
演員:鄭裕玲、張堅庭、梁家輝、林蛟



國內幹部鄭碩男 (鄭裕玲飾) 奉命帶同其助手阿勝 (張堅庭飾) 把在國內幫助香港毒販販毒的阿牛回港,指證販毒商人蘇國榮。來港後,鄭碩男得到香港警察伍衛國 (梁家輝飾) 的接待,但不幸讓阿牛逃脫了。鄭碩男唯有留港協助調查,幫手捉拿阿牛,卻受到了神秘的襲擊,只好由伍衛國保護,暫住他的家中。但伍衛國父親——伍天賜 (林蛟飾) 乃國民黨舊幹部,辦理案件期間,他們相互對立,鬧出了不少笑話,令身為香港皇家警察的伍衛國哭笑不得,束手無策。最終,中港的合作,配合上伍衛國父親與其國民黨老朋友的幫助,成功把販毒商人蘇國榮繩之以法。

自一九八四年,中英簽訂《中英聯合聲明》後,踏入一九九零年代,香港人開始關心政治,並且探求「香港人」這個身分的問題,政治成為了喜劇不可多得的諷刺元素,《表姐,你好嘢﹗》就是當中的表表者。在電影中的鄭碩男,被塑造成喜歡充裝、守舊、嚴肅的形象,身為香港人伍衛國卻沒有多大的政治觀念,皆反映了當時香港人對中國、香港,甚至是台灣的形象與關係的觀感。其中,身為國民黨黨員的伍天賜與鄭碩男、阿勝相互對唱 《梅花》、《義勇軍進行曲》 及 《沒有共產黨就沒有新中國》 的一幕,伍衛國卻輕鬆唱出 『Woo . . . 無心睡覺,Woo . . . 國共交戰』 (改篇自張國榮 《無心睡眠》) 等的情節,以及阿勝在吃早餐時,向身穿國民黨軍服的林蛟、公安服飾的鄭碩男與皇家香港警察制服的伍衛國詢問,像他這樣沒有制服的平民可同桌吃飯時的對話,無疑是幽默的情景,卻又不無政治的反映。最後,伍衛國與其父親及鄭碩男合作,一同擒獲蘇國榮,乃對兩岸三地和諧關係的寄望,可見 《表姐,你好嘢﹗》 是一部不可多得的黑色幽默喜劇,不乏笑料之餘,讓人想到當時香港的政治概況。

馮淑儀,香港大學比較文學系二年級生,香港大學學生會文學院學生會比較文學學會2007-2008
年度出版秘書。

Film Review: I Heart Huckabees / Amory Ho-wang Hui

I Heart Huckabees (2004)
Directed by David O. Russell
Written by David O. Russell, Jeff Baena
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts


An environmentalist, a corporate executive, a spokesmodel, a firefighter, two existential detectives and a nihilistic philosopher. What can possibly come out of this bizarre pack?

Whether I Heart Huckabees is a shallow comedy behind the facade of existentialist discussions or a rigorous philosophical piece embellished with absurd drama, it is your case to argue: Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), leader of the Open Spaces Coalition, has been undergoing a series of bemusing coincidences. With the help of two Existential Detectives, Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) who advocate the experience of 'universal inter-connectedness,' Albert contemplates his life and relationships. Meanwhile, Brad Stand (Jude Law), an executive at Huckabees, a popular chain of retail superstores, infiltrates Open Spaces in planning to build a new store. When Brad also hires the detectives, they examine his apparently fulfilling life and his relationship with his girlfriend, the spokesmodel of Huckabees, Dawn Campbell (Naomi Watts). To complicate matters, Albert meets anti-petroleum firefighter Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg) and the two go against Brad with the teachings of the Jaffes' adversary, the French radical Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert), who persuades them to detach from daily concerns and indulge in individualistic pleasures. The film goes on to elaborate the feminist revolt of the philosophically liberated of Dawn, as well as the conflicts between Albert-Tommy and Brad. Eventually, it brings on a confrontation between the two schools of philosophical thoughts and presents a resolution or synthesis of some sort.

While I Heart Huckabees contains commonplace elements of visual hilarity (you get to see a soaked and whining Jude Law), it contextualizes comedy in a dialectic regarding how we relate ourselves to the world. The discussions may be superficial instead of academically solid, but at the very least the film introduces the possibility of a philosophical comedy where humor derives from actions motivated by seemingly opposing doctrines.

Amory Ho-wang Hui is currently a BA year 2 student at HKU, majoring in Comparative Literature. He is the ex-Academic Secretary of Society of Comparative Literature, A.A.H.K.U.S.U., Session 2007-2008.

Bullentin 2007-2008: Acknowledgement

Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung
清心
馮偉才
Dr. Fiona Yuk-wa Law
馬然
潘國靈
蕭恆
馮淑儀
Amory Ho-wang Hui

Society of Comparative Literature, A.A.H.K.U.S.U., Session 2007-2008
Executive Committee

Chairperson and Sports Captain: Annie Siu-kwan Lau
Internal Vice-Chairperson:  Olivia Kwan-lam Law
External Vice-Chairperson:  Tracy Chui-yan Lam
General Secretary:  Zoe Shuk-ying So
Financial Secretary:  Isabel Sin-yee Wu
Ex-Academic Secretary:  Amory Ho-wang Hui
Publication Secretary:  Nicole Shuk-yee Fung
Publicity Secretary:  Jovial Cho-ting Wong
Social Secretary and Welfare Secretary:  Anna Kai-ning Siu

Date of publication: October 2008
Editor: Nicole Shuk-yee Fun

Website: www.hku.hk/scomplit

Creative Work Collage / Luna Ngai (魏家欣)



A video collage made by Luna Ngai, materials of which were taken this blog.

Luna Ngai is a graduate from the Department of Comparative Literature.

Images of the city / Melanie Ko



 

詩兩首 / 岑學敏

明日
「明日過後,我的天空失去你的海岸。」
──〈下一站天國〉

明日之前
他會在出字幕的時候
跑離文化中心大劇院
趕去天星碼頭
搭船過海去大會堂
趕電影節的下場
時間容許的話他會抽根菸
和準備上政總抗議的朋友打個招呼
偶爾在碼頭的美心西餅買個包
但絕不會在美心 Express 買下午茶
那實在太難食

明日之前
他還未認識前女友
在灣仔影藝看完電影
那只為他一個人的放映
因為無聊
他沿海旁走向中環
他曾想過在皇后碼頭前
拖住某個女孩的手
後來那女孩成了他的女友
那裡也順理成章
成了他們約會和吵架的地方

明日之前
他說要鍛鍊身體
故意不乘小巴或巴士
從半山走落中環
他準備登船
電話響起兄弟約他劈酒
心諗未死過他行返上 SOHO
飲到半醉腳步唔穩落返碼頭
聽到鐘聲仆你個街尾班船開鬼咗
死死地氣唯有寄望尾班地鐵未走

鐘聲再次響起
碼頭停用影藝執笠
他不能乘船趕電影節的下場
他約兄弟在 IFC
但喝得太醉被轟了出來
他想拿一部投影機
趁鐘樓未拆在碼頭的外牆放紀錄片
在怪手來臨臨之前種竹
明日過後──

二零零六.十一.十深夜初稿
二零零六.十二.二十五修訂


蘇屋

街尾的巴士總站依舊住滿落難神仙
阿婆上完香就拉著行李車離去
從前那裡有個職工飯堂
光顧的多是附近的大叔
不想回家午飯的小孩不敢開口買麵
只好望著趴在地上的狼狗然後閃去買雪條

長型公屋的樓梯都裝上大閘
我只能在夾縫中偷偷望進
樓梯口老人閒聊的安樂椅變了保安櫃檯
我沿樓房兜圈總遇不上有人開門
只好寄望幾日後再來
竄上踏過單車的走廊

於是我沿著往日的路走著
辦館的門早已鎖上
茶餐廳仍在
價錢和十多年前好像沒有分別
以前走過的通道都加了大閘
水電舖的隔壁
多了重建社工隊的辦事處

我走到文具舖
以前我常在那裡打電話回家
老闆的頭髮變得灰白
我問他還有沒有拍紙簿
他瞄了瞄我,從頭掃到腳
現在,只剩這種了
至於那發黃的菊花拍紙簿
一如對面馬路的車房和小巷
淹沒在怪手颳起的塵暴中

二零零七.十一.二十七初稿
二零零七.十二.二十六修訂

Desmond Sham 岑學敏 is a MPhil graduate in Comparative Literature, HKU.