那里
这本有声有色的小说集以实验创作的后设手法,在跨越身体和欲望的边界之余,也穿越不同年代、国家和城乡疆界,对个人vs国家、自由vs极权和民主vs专制的诸种二元对立话语进行心理写实的描绘和解构。《那里》的空间向度横跨新马、台港、中国和英美等地,时间向度从21世纪初的亚洲和帝都穿越20世纪上半旬的民国和南洋。这是形形色色的人物在集中营共同演出的生命剧场,这是比起福柯批判的全景监视主义和阿甘本描述的例外状态来得更为暧昧和荒谬的生命政治。
There
This fiction collection employs experimental narrative techniques to explore beyond the boundaries of the body and desires. It traverses different eras, nations, and urban-rural landscapes, offering a psychological and realistic portrayal and deconstruction of various binary oppositions, such as individual vs. nation, freedom vs. authoritarianism, and democracy vs. dictatorship. It spans geographical dimensions, covering locations like Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and the UK/US. The timeline ranges from the early 21st century in Asia and imperial capitals to the first half of the 20th century in the Republic of China and Nanyang. This is a life theater where a diverse cast of characters performs together in a concentration camp—a life politics more ambiguous and absurd than Foucault's critique of panoramic surveillance and Agamben's depiction of the state of exception.
作品节选 | Excerpt
我搬了凳子坐在他的旁邊說,小僮啊,我在寫一本紀實小說,內容是有關你現在讀著的那些書,我很想進一步瞭解他們,又不知從何下手,你有沒有這方面的朋友?你猜小傢伙起初怎麼答我?哼!他的臉紅透得像隻吊著賣的燒鴨,嘟一嘟嘴說,沒有啊,我又不是他們。
嘖嘖!這麼快就急著跟我假撇清。如果坐在他前面的是個大帥哥,恐怕他早就脫衣卸褲了。其實那天我真不應該這樣單刀直入,誰會笨到在自己老闆的面前暴露自個兒的身份?搞到小僮對我反而有點戒心起來。有一天還摟摟抱抱牽了一個小胖妞來上班報到。嚇死我了!你不要看他假惺惺去追那些女孩,只要有一線希望能肯定自己不是,他都會說服自己。你等著瞧!最終是苦了那些無知的女孩而已。
其實也不用等多久。洋槍一到,所向無敵。這個洋博士神出鬼沒,鬍子拉碴,兩隻鷹眼炯炯有神,說也真是,只要他拿一條白布往自己的頭上一包,他真的有點像漂了白整過容的奧薩馬吔。他一來書店的前前後後,多年埋伏在四周圍的二毛子又頻頻找上門來喝咖啡了。我到今天還搞不清楚他們到底真正衝著什麼而來。時代變了,敵人的面目也隨之改變。他可能早已處於內部。他可能可以是自己的影子。
「你一生最大的失敗始終是沒搞清楚你的敵人是誰。」
有一次老妻指篤著我的鼻子挑唆地質問,你一生人讀這麼多書有什麼用呢?你以為擁有了它們,其實你還是處於世界的外部。我把這一句話轉述給正在埋頭看書的小僮聽。他驚嚇地抬起頭來,一副不諳世故的模樣。

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

许维贤
许维贤任教于新加坡南洋理工大学,著有四本学术专书,并主编三本学术专书。另外也著有两本诗集、两本小说集和一本散文集。曾在国内外荣获数十项文学奖项,包括中国的王默人小说创作奖,新加坡文学奖华文组非虚构写作首奖和新加坡金笔奖华文组短篇小说首奖等等。
Hee Wai Siam
Hee Wai Siam is a faculty member at Nanyang Technological University who authored four academic monographs and edited three academic collections. He has written two volumes of poetry, two short story collections, and one essay collection. He has received numerous literary awards both locally and internationally, including the Wang Mo-Ren Fiction Creation Award in China, the Singapore Literature Prize for Chinese Creative Nonfiction, and the Singapore Golden Point Award for Chinese Short Story, among others.
许维贤写作心得 | Short Notes with Hee Wai Siam
在写作方面,“心眼”对于您意味着什么?| What does "Mata Hati | 心眼 | Eye of the Heart | மனக்கண் வழியே" mean to you in writing?
写作可以让你多长心眼, 让你的世界变得更大。
Writing allows you to see with the “eye of the heart,” expanding your world.
请分享您的写作习惯:手写还是打字?是否有好几份草稿、长时间的停顿或短暂的灵感泉涌? | What does your writing process look like? Do you type or write? Are there multiple drafts, long pauses, or sudden bursts of activity?
以前是手写,现在是有些字句是先手写在我的记事簿里,当要进入构思全文,我会打字。通常有几份草稿,最后选择最满意的草稿发表,因此创作速度像蜗牛那般缓慢。
Previously, I wrote by hand; now, some sentences are first handwritten in my notebook, and when it comes to drafting the entire text, I type it out. I usually have several drafts and ultimately choose the one I am most satisfied with for publication, so the writing process is as slow as a snail.
请形容一下您的写作空间。| What does your working space look like?
我有一间书房,除了工作,就是写作;我有一间睡房,除了睡觉,就是看书。平日我穿梭在这两个空间之间,偶尔会有点夏宇式的问自己:这就是从前所耿耿于怀的未来吗?
I have a study room where, aside from working, I write; I have a bedroom where, aside from sleeping, I read. On a daily basis, I usually move between these two spaces, and occasionally, I ask myself in a style reminiscent of Hsia Yu: Is this the future I used to care so much about?
请以不超过30个字向读者们推荐您的入围作品。| Make an elevator pitch for your shortlisted work in 30 words or less.
本书写给那些在过去感到不安,恐惧和悲伤的人。也许今天依然如此,请保持平静,继续前进。
This book is written for those who felt anxious, fearful, and sad in the past. Perhaps this is still the case today; please remain calm and keep moving forward.
请分享在创作入围作品当儿的一个关键时刻。| Could you share a pivotal moment as you were writing this work?
完成本书期间是在2023年,刑事法典377A条文在新加坡正式被废除,而这刑事法典在马来西亚却被强化和执行。
During the completion of this book in 2023, Section 377A of the Penal Code was officially repealed in Singapore, while this section was reinforced and enforced in Malaysia.
回顾入围作品的写作过程,您会给当时的自己一个什么建议?| If you could give one advice to yourself when you were writing this book, what would it be?
在自由和安全之間,人們非但沒有多少選擇,而是漸漸失去了這些選擇,甚至陷入了一個二元對立的悖論:你選擇了安全,就會失去自由;你選擇了自由,就会失去安全。這就是“裸命”。那些漸漸失去自由或安全的選項的生命,就是“裸命”。
Between freedom and safety, people not only have limited choices but are gradually losing these choices, even falling into a paradox of binary opposition: choosing safety means losing freedom; choosing freedom means losing safety. This is “bare life.” Lives that gradually lose the options of freedom or safety are “bare life.”