Skip to main content

不求甚解,可以嗎?

端午節在尖沙咀海傍的無人機燈光表演,事後廣受網民嘲笑俗氣、像長輩圖等,屈原「現身」在空中飄更讓我覺得是其於死忌顯靈,很是詭異。

我在臉書轉發了ReNews的報導,想不到有人會點讚,而且是一個多年沒見的外國人,我納悶她究竟喜歡什麼、知否「到底發生什麼事」,只可猜想是她從沒見過用無人機砌出漢字,欣賞此藝術吧。

我在港大工作時,有國內同事有次跟我路過英皇書院時,對我說他對那學校沒好感,因為他討厭楊受成。我聽了先是心中有點驚訝,但沒流露出來,並笑着解釋道:英皇是英國國皇的意思,英文叫King's College,是政府辦學,跟楊受成的英皇集團一點關係也沒有!那同事沒意會背後的殖民史,更與搞娛樂事業的公司穿鑿附會,不過不應嘲笑,我反而覺得其不把自己困於校園、留意附近社區之精神可嘉(很多港人一向覺得國內人來港後往往不踏出自己人的小圈子呢)。

文藝創作和社會/社區的形成,固然與背後的歷史和文化息息相關,但評析時又是否完全不可抽離背景呢?

近年對香港流行曲的評論(尤其對當紅的鏡仔),時常着重「咬字」,例如姜濤最新的《DUMMY》就獲多人稱讚咬字清晰聽得明歌詞。歌手追求發音清晰,固然對歌唱是有好處,但如以發音不清就批評歌曲又會不會太輕易抺殺了整個作品?世界音樂如此多元,不懂外語是否就要封閉自己不接觸其他地區的音樂?而就算我們這些外國人聽得懂外語歌詞,我們大概也不夠資格評論歌手咬字是否清晰標準吧。正如閱讀文字作品,讀者又會不會因為不明白其中幾個字的意思而認為作品不值一讀?又如果對作品的評語只是「用字淺顯易明」,除非是兒童書,不然作者也會啼笑皆非或覺得膚淺吧?

不求甚解,原意是要領會大意而不必着眼於字眼之意思,到今天則演變成不深入理解。了解相關背景,明白作品的細節,固然定品評和鑑賞甚有裨益,但現實中大家受時間和個人知識所限,往往只能對背景資料簡單了解、略知一二,只可看到事物較表面之處。然而,不完全理解創作背後的原意,也不一定妨礙受眾對其之欣賞和評價;不完全理解一地的歷史,也不全然妨礙人們對當地建築、規劃等表達讚賞或提出疑問。聽歌不要執着要求歌手字正腔圓,歌詞大意聽一兩遍一般都可明瞭大概,就算不想深究歌詞,旋律節奏等也可以是欣賞音樂的切入點。不過話說回來,無人機燈光表演,如果主辦者用心思考主題和舖排,再在字體設計下功夫,同時彰顯漢字的內涵和美學,豈非更妙?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

排隊和人潮 Queues and crowds

A restaurant chain well-known in Hong Kong called Tamjai specialising in mixian (a type of rice noodles) has been talking about expanding to Australia for several years. The vision has finally materialised when the first Australian branch was open in Melbourne CBD in 28th November. Wife, baby and I were already keen to try it out on its second day of opening. 說了多年的譚仔米線往澳洲擴張,到11月28日譚仔在澳洲的首家分店終於在墨爾本市區,一家三口在開張第二天便貪新鮮試了。 We waited for 1 1/2 hours since 19:00 before we got a table. Many passers-by were amazed by this queue and a lady even asked what the queue was about and whether it was indeed worth the wait. She said that the length of the queue had not changed since she last walked by 4 hours earlier! 由黃昏7點排隊等了一個半小時才可內進,其間不少行人對人龍嘖嘖稱奇,甚至有西人婦人說人龍跟4小時前一樣長,問我排隊的目的和米線值不值得吃。 Customers can customise their own mixian noodles by choosing the soup base and ingredients. At the base price, 2 ingredients excluding the more expensive, special ones are included. The special ones...

Czech it out (1) 捷克三日遊(1)

My ‘conquest’ to the east continues after spending Easter in Croatia. Over the Pentecost long weekend (10th to 12th May), three other friends and I went for a trip in the neighbouring Czech Republic. Driving was a handy option for the four of us, as the Czech Republic was not that far away (the distance between Prague and Munich is only about 400 km), petrol costs were more reasonable when shared by 4 people, and it gave us much more flexibility with where we wanted to go. 今年是我的旅遊「東進年」,復活節到過克羅地亞後,我和幾個朋友上個長週末(5月10至12日)前往鄰國捷克玩了三天。由於距離不算太遠(首都布拉格離慕尼黑也是400公里左右),四人同行,駕車不但不貴,而且要往其他地方玩玩也更方便。 The 400 km drive was quite bearable as we have chosen to make a few breaks en route. After stopping at the border for money exchange and purchasing a highway sticker, we headed for the city of Plzen and spent 2 or 3 hours there. We had lunch at the famous local brewery of Pilsner Urquell and tried some ‘local cuisine’. It turned out that the food wasn’t too different from the meaty, hearty German fare, but...

When autumn settles 秋高氣爽

Finally the weather has stopped being temperamental in October, and is giving us as many fine days as we ask for. The increasing chilliness in the morning air, however, is a reminder that beautiful autumn days like these don't necessarily last long! The weather was still rather warm for the first few days of the month. On 1st October, my colleagues and I took an early finish at work and went for the Oktoberfest. While it was not as jam-packed and crazy as the opening day , it was still not easy to find a table. We sat outside during the day time and switched indoors in the beer tent after dark. The atmosphere inside was simply infectious. We all entered a state of exhilaration in no time, as we saw a sea of people standing on the benches, dancing and chanting to the music of the band. It finally dawned on me how people could spend a whole day at the Oktoberfest. Beer, it seems, is the best form ecstasy for many people in Western societies! The cooler weather in the following weeken...