Xi Ni Er 希尼尔 (b. 1957)
CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
怅然不若失——对逝去文化的戏谑和嘲讽 [Disappointment Is Not the Same as Loss: Parody and Mockery of a Lost Culture]
Written by Ang Jin Yong
Translated by Jonathan Chan
Dated 8 Nov 2023
对逝去的历史与文化的缅怀
希尼尔的诗集《绑架岁月》，处处透露出诗人对于逝去的传统文化与历史做出的书写。毕竟，诗人当时处于新加坡正在急速发展和前进的时代，再加上华校的关闭，不难理解为何诗人会对于这段时代有特殊的情感和书写的必要。王润华在为其诗集书写的序中提出，无论是在土地还是传统文化上，都“处处可感受到连根拔起的悲痛”（王润华 1989: 2）。例如〈路过纪念碑〉：“而大屠杀与足球赛 / 番薯叶和麦当劳 / 都只是熟悉的名词”（希尼尔 1989: 16）。
诗人通过简单的几句诗，将现代人对于历史的淡忘描写了出来。新加坡人似乎对于自己的历史没有基本的理解，只当这些历史事件和经历等同于一些其他普遍事物的名词。在这里，诗人页表现得非常无奈，只能让“莱佛士城的打桩 / 又沉沉地呜咽到黄昏”（希尼尔 1989: 17）。
除了对本地历史的遗忘，诗人也描写了本地传统文化的流失。例如〈石狮赋〉用两个石狮子作为隐喻来形容传统文化的流失，只留下两个虚有其表的石像作为一种文化的“传承”：“该走的都走了 / 该保留的也已留下 / 唯有您两，孤单单战在公园里，弃路的两端 / 惨度残年”（希尼尔 1989: 24）
然而，诗人并沒有绝望，他在诗的结尾写道石獅“仍要撑着腰，站着”（希尼尔 1989: 25），表明了自己坚信传统文化会继续“传承”下去。
对于现实社会的戏谑和嘲讽
继《绑架岁月》后，诗人出版了第二本诗集《轻信莫疑》（希尼尔 2001）。虽然诗集的内容依然围绕着逝去的历史与文化，但是诗人不再以缅怀或者抒情的方式去描写，反而开始使用一些后现代的手法来述说这个主题。例如，〈圣淘沙古炮前留影〉：“过后 / 众人皆离去 / 我连忙按下自动快门 / 凑在你身旁 / 拍一张全家福”（希尼尔 2001: 68）。
在这里，诗人利用荒谬与幽默的笔调描写了人们对于历史的遗忘，反而选择追求一些片面且不实质的方式去“消费”历史。没人有兴趣去深入理解这段历史，大家宁愿把留下的文物当成旅游景点去拍照，以致先驱们的牺牲都似乎被淡淡遗忘了：“再三端详 / 是的，某段菲林 / 模糊不清。有黑影 / 呈漂浮状，犹似当年 / 军刀下，不屈的心灵”（希尼尔 2001: 69）。
作者通过模糊不清的菲林，隐喻了新加坡人对于历史的冷淡处理，以致人们渐渐淡忘了先驱的牺牲。虽然菲林模糊，但不代表没有，作者似乎在隐喻虽然大部分新加坡选择“消费”历史，但是仍会有一部分有心人会通过自己的努力去记下先驱“军刀下，不屈的心灵”。
此外，〈怅然若失〉（希尼尔 2001: 36）更是通过图像诗的方式描写了华文文化在本地的消失。诗人解构了“传统诗”的形式，用图像来表现了汉字的“演变”。然而，他的结尾却非常耐人寻味，因为汉字从最初的图像反而演变成了英语字母，而且拼成了“LOST”。在这里，作者用了汉字的“演变”嘲讽了新加坡语境下，文化的流失。“演变”或进化本应是往更好的形态或方向发展，但是这段演变反而让人感到“LOST”，似乎隐喻了新加坡的华文文化在不断“英语化”的语境下反而显得更加迷失。而对于传统诗的形式解构，更是隐喻了人们学习华文或华文文化的碎片化，无疑是对于现实社会的一种戏谑。
结尾
综上所述，希尼尔的诗作主题都围绕着逝去的传统文化与历史做出书写。然而，有较于早期的抒情笔调，作者在后期的创作使用了较为后现代的手法。这份尝试让作者的诗作更为精彩，也为这个“后现代”的城市留下了一片宝贵的记忆和记录。
参考资料
王润华〈一本根植于文化乡土上的诗集——序希尼尔的《绑架岁月》〉，见希尼尔《绑架岁月》（新加坡：七洋出版社，1989）
希尼尔《绑架岁月》（新加坡：七洋出版社，1989）
希尼尔《轻信莫疑》（新加坡：新加坡作家协会，2001）
In Remembrance of a Lost History and Culture
Xi Ni Er’s debut poetry collection, 《绑架岁月》[The Kidnapped Years] (1989), reveals, throughout the poet’s writing, a response to the gradual passing away of traditional Chinese culture and history. After all, Xi Ni Er had experienced Singapore’s rapid development and advancement. Coupled with the closure of Chinese-medium schools, it is not hard to fathom why the poet felt particular emotions and a feeling of necessity to write about this era. In the preface to Xi Ni Er’s collection, Wong Yoon Wah suggests that, whether it is in terms of the land or of traditional culture, “the grief of uprooting can be felt everywhere” (Wong, “A Collection of Poems Rooted in Cultural Vernacular”). For example, in the poem <路过纪念碑> [“Passing By A Monument”], Xi Ni Er writes:
而大屠杀与足球赛
番薯叶和麦当劳
都只是熟悉的名词[And the massacres and football games
Sweet potato leaves and McDonald’s
Have all become mere familiar terms]
Through several simple lines, Xi Ni Er illustrates the forgetfulness toward history demonstrated by modern people. Singaporeans lack a basic understanding of their history, regarding these historical events and experiences as equivalent to the nouns used to refer to commonplace occurrences. It is here that Xi Ni Er exhibits a great sense of helplessness, as he can only let
莱佛士城的打桩
又沉沉地呜咽到黄昏[The pile foundations of Raffles City
Whimper, sinking, into the dusk once again]
Beyond a forgetfulness toward local history, Xi Ni Er also illustrates the gradual fading of traditional local culture. For example, in his poem <石狮赋> [“Stone Lion Fugue”], he uses two stone lions as a metaphor to describe this sense of loss, with the remaining lions serving as a form of cultural “inheritance”:
该走的都走了
该保留的也已留下
唯有您两，孤单单战在公园里，弃路的两端
惨度残年[All that should go has gone
All that should stay has already stayed
There is only the two of you, engaged in battle alone in the park, abandoning both ends of the road
The misery of cruel, old age]
And yet, Xi Ni Er does not give in to despair. He concludes his poem by writing that the stone lions “must still straighten their backs, standing”. This indicates his firm belief that traditional Chinese culture will continue to be “passed down”.
Parody and Mockery of “Real” Society
After The Kidnapped Years, Xi Ni Er’s second collection, 《轻信莫疑》[Stretched Credulity] (2001) was published. Although the book continues to focus on fading history and culture, Xi Ni Er no longer responds to these subjects through tribute or in lyrical modes. Rather, he begins to utilise postmodern techniques to address these themes. For example, in his poem <圣淘沙古炮前留影> [“A Photo in Front of an Old Cannon at Sentosa”], he writes:
过后
众人皆离去
我连忙按下自动快门
凑在你身旁
拍一张全家福[Afterwards
Everyone left
I pressed the automatic shutter hurriedly
Moved close to your body
And took a photo of our family]
Here, Xi Ni Er makes use of absurdity and humour to describe the forgetfulness people have toward history, instead choosing to pursue shallow and insubstantial ways of “consuming” history. Nobody has any interest in developing a deep understanding of this period of history, instead preferring to take photos of artefacts that are treated like tourist attractions. This makes it seem as if the sacrifices of pioneers have been forgotten:
再三端详
是的，某段菲林
模糊不清。有黑影
呈漂浮状，犹似当年
军刀下，不屈的心灵[Look again and again,
It is true, a section of the film
Is blurred, unclear. There are shadows
floating, as if it were that year
under the bayonet, a spirit refusing to yield.]
Through the image of the blurred film photograph, Xi Ni Er depicts the lukewarm regard Singaporeans have for their history, which has resulted in their gradually forgetting the sacrifices of pioneers. Although the film photograph is blurry, this does not suggest it holds no substance. The persona suggests that while the majority of Singaporeans have chosen to “consume” their history, there remains a segment that, by their efforts, will remember how “under the bayonet, [the pioneer’s spirits were] refusing to yield”.
In addition, Xi Ni Er’s poem <怅然若失> [“LOST”] makes use of the form of graphic poetry to depict the disappearance of Chinese culture in a local context, deconstructing the form of “traditional poetry” and using images to represent the ‘evolution’ of Chinese characters. The poem’s ending, however, is intriguing, as the Chinese characters are shown to have evolved from their original pictographic forms into letters of the English alphabet, spelling “LOST”.
Here, Xi Ni Er uses this “evolution” of the Chinese characters to mock the loss of the Chinese culture in the context of Singapore. While “evolution” or progress is supposed to be oriented toward the development of better forms or directions, this “evolution” depicted in the poem instead creates the feeling within readers of one being “LOST”. This seems to be a metaphor for the loss of Singapore's Chinese culture in the context of a continuous and quickening “Anglicisation”. Xi Ni Er’s deconstruction of traditional forms represents the fragmentation of how Singaporeans learn the Chinese language or Chinese culture, which undoubtedly parodies the ‘real’ or actual society Xi Ni Er had experienced.
Conclusion
In summary, the themes of Xi Ni Er’s poems are centred on the gradual passing of traditional Chinese culture and history in Singapore. However, compared with the lyrical tone of his earlier poems, Xi Ni Er moves toward a more postmodern approach in his later poems. Such efforts make his poems even more mesmerising, leaving for this “postmodern” city precious memories and records.
Works cited
Xi Ni Er. The Kidnapped Years. Singapore. Qiyang Chubanshe. 1989.
Xi Ni Er. Stretched Credulity. Singapore. Singapore Association of Writers. 2001.
Wong, Yoon Wah. “A Collection of Poems Rooted in Cultural Vernacular - Preface to Xi Ni Er’s The Kidnapped Years.” In Xi Ni Er’s The Kidnapped Years. Singapore. Qiyang Chubanshe. 1989.
