从新加坡制造反思制造新加坡：希尼尔论

Reflections on the Making of Singapore from Being Made in Singapore: On Xi Ni Er

生于斯长于斯的新加坡作家希尼尔可谓新加坡制造,而同时其长于书写的短诗、微型小说亦是新加坡社会发展的文体实践。相当有意味的是,他恰恰是以新加坡制造反思制造新加坡中的种种问题:在回顾传统时,他既批评对乡土/传统的巨大破坏,又以"后殖民"日本为例反思岛人的善于遗忘历史;在直面当下时,他着重呈现其间的孤岛属性,批判工具性、现代化,也刻画平面新加坡人的文化特征;而在窥视未来时,他一方面强调双重原乡,另一方面亦强调要立足更新后的本土。

Xi Ni Er,a Singaporean writer,born and bred in Singapore,can be said to have been made in Singapore,and the short poems and micro-fiction that he is good at writing are also a genre practice in line with the development of Singaporean society.Intriguingly,it is by making reflections with Singapore that he makes issues in Singapore.In reflecting on tradition,he not only criticizes the huge destruction of the native village/tradition but also reflects on the islanders’easiness in forgetting history based on the example of a‘postcolonial’Japan.In the face of contemporary times,he lays emphasis on the attributes of the island nation,critiquing its instrumental modernity and also portraying the cultural characteristics of the flat Singaporeans.When it comes to peeping into the future,he emphasises the double original home whiles also stressing the importance of getting a foothold in the renewed native land.