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2025/26 School of Chinese Research Student Seminar

論《美麗大廈》中居民對社區空間的建構

On the Residents' Construction of Community Space in "The Merry Building"

Abstract:

西西(1937-2022)從成名作《我城》(1971)開始，一直傾力為香港訴說故事。《美麗大廈》(1977)為緊隨《我城》後小說，書寫大廈居民如何在電梯故障、颱風吹襲危機下自發改造社區，建立互助社群。學界一直關注西西的空間書寫，對《美麗大廈》也多聚焦在靜態的空間詮釋，較少關注居民群體及社區建構的意義。

本報告將參酌城市基建、新城市主義等理論，梳理人與基建、群體與基建的多元關係：合作與順從、抗爭與重塑，論述現代大廈空間中社區營造的可能性，藉以討論對居民群體與社區基建的關係。本報告也將論析文本如何塑造差異化的居民群像：青年、主婦、老人、隱藏人物，重讀社區集體行動與危機事件的敘述，從中討論居民個體所呈現的不同角色與職能。本報告聚焦論述居民在交通運輸、水資源及資訊傳播系統的基建實踐，表現城市基建在民間參與下所經歷的改造與創新式轉化，而社群又如何從中實踐不同社會功能，重構社區乃至城市的形態。

Xi Xi (1937-2022), starting with her acclaimed novel My City (1971), dedicated herself to telling stories of Hong Kong. The Merry Building (1977), a novel following My City, depicts how residents of a high-rise spontaneously transformed their community and established a mutual aid society in the crises of elevator malfunctions and typhoons. The academic circle has always focused on Xi Xi's spatial writing. Especially, scholars give strong focus about the static spatial interpretation in The Merry Building, paying less attention to the significance of resident groups and community building. This seminar will draw on theories of urban infrastructure and New Urbanism, examining the diverse relationships between people and infrastructure, and between groups and infrastructure: cooperation and compliance, resistance and reshaping. It discusses the possibilities of community building within modern high-rise spaces, thereby exploring the relationship between resident groups and community infrastructure. This report will also analyse how the text shapes differentiated resident portraits: youth, housewives, the elderly, and hidden figures, re-reading narratives of collective community action and crisis events to discuss the roles and functions of these characters. This report focuses on the infrastructural practices of residents in transportation, water resource, information and communication systems, demonstrating the transformation and innovative changes that urban infrastructure has undergone with the engagement of the public, and how communities have practiced different social functions and reconstructed the formation of their communities and even cities.