流動型的香港文化
鄭培凱
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Hong Kong Culture: A
Mobile Type
By
Pei-kai Cheng
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談到香港文化定位，就會引起一些人（特別是香港以外的文化人）的疑問：
香港有文化嗎？香港不是「文化沙漠」嗎？香港文化除了吃喝玩樂、聲色犬馬，還有什麼值得驕人的？香港的精英文化、學術成就，能跟北京比嗎？能跟台北比嗎？能跟上海比嗎？香港自稱國際都巿，在文化藝術的展現上，能跟紐約比嗎？能跟巴黎比嗎？能跟倫敦比嗎？甚至能跟東京比嗎？
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TALK
of the status of “Hong Kong culture” and you are sure to draw a barrage of
challenges, particularly from those in cultural circles outside of the
territory: —
Has Hong Kong got any “culture”
to speak of, in the first place? It is
reputedly a “cultural desert”, isn’t it?
What’s there in its culture that Hong Kong can feel proud of, other
than wining and dining, merrymaking, pop singing and horse racing? Speaking of a refined culture and
intellectual merits, can Hong Kong compare with Beijing, Taipei, or
Shanghai? In terms of exhibition of
various forms of art and culture, is the territory –– calling itself a
“Global City” –– up to the rank of such places as New York, Paris, London, or
even Tokyo?
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這一連串的疑問，其實是充滿了貶意的質疑，基本觀點就是香港沒有「自身」的文化。除了經濟貿易、聲色犬馬，沒有可以超過其他大城巿的「文化優點」。
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That volley of disparaging
questions, in fact, reveals a strong sense of disbelief on the underlying
assumption that Hong Kong has no culture “of its own”. Allegedly, the city lacks “cultural
advantages” over other metropolises, though it may boast some strengths in
trade and business, or in sensual pleasure and entertainments.
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這種貶斥觀點形成，有其歷史原因，與英國殖民政策及中國人愛國義憤有關，說來話長，這裡且不細論。
但是，有一點值得在此提出，就是香港文化的定位，從來不從自身本位出發，總是「外人說了算」：英國人當然是充滿了殖民優越眼光，中國的文化人也多少戴上二手的殖民色彩有色眼鏡看香港。久而久之，香港本地人也自嘲「文化沙漠」，小老百姓更是理所當然的「聲色犬馬」起來。當全世界的人都說香港沒文化、不可能有文化、不配有文化時，香港人還能說什麼？
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Reasons behind that assumption
can be traced to history, related to some colonial policies of the British
and patriotic feelings of the Chinese.
That would be a long story; we are not going into details here.
Yet one point merits special
mention. The nature or status of
culture in Hong Kong has never been judged from the city’s own perspective;
it is always what “outsiders” said that counts. The British, as the colonial ruler, looked
at the issue with a sense of superiority, whereas those in cultural circles
of mainland China saw it more or less through spectacles tinted with a
second-hand hue of colonialist condescension.
As time passed, even Hong Kong people came to accept the verdict of
“cultural desert”, joking about it at their own expense, and the local masses
have taken cultureless enjoyments for granted. What else can Hongkongers say when all the
rest of the world maintains that their hometown has no culture, can’t
possibly have a culture, or even doesn’t deserve a culture?
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不過，當我們換一個角度來看香港，仔細思考香港文化應當如何定位時，就會發現：香港的文化有不同層次的發展，高低都有，華洋皆備，不僅是簡單的「經濟生活的感官反應」而已。
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Yet, if we adopt a different
perspective on the nature or status of Hong Kong’s culture, we can see the
city does possess a culture that is well-developed on levels ranging from
elite-high to vulgar-low, and rich in both Chinese and foreign features, one
that reflects far more than a “sensual response to the economic life” of the
territory.
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從長遠的歷史發展來看，香港在中西文化接觸碰撞之中，扮演了重要的角色，直接影響中國人的文化意識。就算我們不從宏觀的歷史視野來看，只說近百年的具體史實，就不知有多少文化精英人物曾在香港落腳，或過境、或流亡、或定居。
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From a long, historical point
of view, we find Hong Kong has played an important role in the contact and
collision between Chinese and Western cultures, thus exercising a strong
influence on the cultural consciousness of Chinese people. Now, we may just leave aside a
macro-historical vision, but take the past century alone as an example. We see countless top-achievers in various
cultural fields have set foot in Hong Kong, either in transit or in exile, or
to make their homes here.
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過去討論香港文化，只把這些人當作「過境人物」，這些人也自認為「過境」，與香港文化無關。然而，真的無關嗎？別忘了，「文化過境」是與機場轉機過境不同的。
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They used to be referred to, in
discussions about the culture of Hong Kong, as people who were here “in
transit”, and so did they describe themselves, as if being irrelevant to the
local culture. But were they really
that irrelevant? Don’t forget that, as
cultural figures, their sojourn in this place is very different from a
passenger’s stay in the transit lounge of an airport.
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假如我們把文化的發展粗略分成「固定」(本鄉本土)與「流動」(穿梭來往)兩種形態，則香港顯然有著深厚的流動型文化。
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If we examine the evolution of
culture as taking place in two roughly defined modes, namely a “stationary”
(i.e., indigenous) mode and a “mobile” (i.e., transient) one, then we can see
that Hong Kong evidently has a well-rounded culture of the latter type.
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一方面影響了香港本地的文化發展，如魯迅、胡適、許地山、陳寅恪等人來到香港，並不是來觀光旅遊的。不管是來批判還是來建設，都對香港的文化發展有所貢獻。
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On the one hand, the transient
guests have influenced the growth of Hong Kong’s indigenous culture, as did
literary and academic figures such as Lu Xun, Hu Shih, Hsu Ti-shan and Chen
Yin-ke. They did not come as mere
tourists. They have made various
contributions to the growth of Hong Kong’s culture, either with their
criticisms or constructive works.
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另方面，所有流動過境的文化人士，都帶著他們對香港的印象，成為一種文化參照，影響了更廣泛的中國文化發展。特別是抗戰爆發之後，一撥一撥的文化、藝術、影劇人士匯集香港，怎麼可能只與香港這片土地有關，而與文化無關？
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On the other hand, all those
cultural figures who stayed in Hong Kong briefly and moved away have taken
with them what the city left on their minds.
Carrying such impressions as a frame of reference, they have since
exerted an even broader impact on Chinese culture in general.
In particular, after the War of
Resistance Against Japan broke out, wave after wave of big names in cultural,
art, theatrical and movie circles flocked to Hong Kong. How could they have concerned themselves
with that place only, but not with its cultural aspects?
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且舉二十世紀的紐約作為對照，文化藝術大有發展，是有目共睹的。但紐約的居民有一半是外國人，剩下的一半，還有百分之五十是來自外地的。也就是說，「流動性」是紐約文化的重要資源，撫育了紐約本地的文化，不斷能夠更新創造。
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One may compare this with the
case of New York City during the 20th century when its culture and art scored
universally visible progress. Half of
the city’s population is made up of foreigners, and the rest is equally
subdivided into native residents and those who have hailed from all corners
of the country. In other words,
“mobility” has become a valuable property
of New York’s culture, keeping it renewed
and re-created all the time.
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我們認為，香港得天獨厚，有最優秀的條件來發展流動型文化。因此，在城巿大學中國文化中心，我們舉辦各種文化藝術講座，安排文化沙龍，在香港電台進行文化訪談，不止是讓全世界經過香港的文化人留下「雪泥鴻爪」，更希望累積文化資源，為香港文化的發展盡一份力。
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Hong Kong is blessed, we
believe, with a land and climate most favourable for a mobile-type culture to
grow. With this end in view, at the
Chinese Civilisation Centre of the City University, we have been presenting talks
on cultural and art topics, holding cultural salon events, and hosting radio
programmes featuring interviews with various cultural figures.
These efforts, we hope, will
not only serve to record the footprints of cultural figures worldwide who
stop over, but also help to build up resources for the prosperity of Hong
Kong’s culture.
(Tr. by Allen Zhuang)
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【源文載《明報月刊》2000年11月號，頁121；中英對照版最初刊於香港城市大學的中國文化中心網頁，2007年12月初貼於譯者原先的網誌 坡港英華 /
SingaKong Chinese & English，今重貼於此。
The Chinese source text appeared in November 2000 issue of Ming Pao Monthly, p
121.
This bilingual text first appeared on the website of Chinese Civilisation Centre, City University of Hong Kong, then was posted on the translator's blog "坡港英華 / SingaKong Chinese & English" in December 2007. It is now re-posted here.】 |
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【允許轉貼；請注明取自本網頁，並保留源文作者及譯者姓名。】
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