一座城與一片記憶

在小說《麻雀》的創作談《我愿意是一只麻雀》里，海飛如此深情地述說著他對上海的少年回憶。因為是上海知青的兒女，少年海飛在上海度過了他大部分的假日時光。那些屬于少年的回憶，充滿著來自四面八方的土語方言，蘇州河上運貨的柴油駁船轟轟駛過，外灘與弄堂里升騰著日常的煙火氣息。從20世紀80年代的上海走來的少年海飛，在進入中年的寫作中，突然將記憶切進民國的時間碎片，在想象中還原民國滬上的諜戰風云。在知青作家一代把知青經歷付諸文字的時候，大概不會想到他們的子女會以這樣一種歷史想象的方式回到他們父母生長的都市。這是歷史還是記憶，或者想象，抑或是將歷史、記憶、想象重組，另成一種紡織城市史的方式？

海飛的文學創作是從被稱為“丹桂房”的浙江諸暨某個小村莊開始的，那里沉淀著他生命的密碼。然而在以飛騰地寫盡丹桂房的想象纏綿之后，海飛轉向留在他血緣里的另一個城市——上海。也許每年假日的滬上小住，使他對這個城市既熟悉又陌生。他承認這個城市的煙火氣他以為懂了，然而并沒有進入。正因為是小住，他才得以自由地想象這個城市曾經的“浪奔、浪流”。在諜戰小說已然蔚為大觀、形成其獨特的類型與模式時，海飛的《麻雀》在類型之中更沉潛了城市與記憶的另一種風情。《麻雀》里的陳深、李小男都不那么像革命者，他們貪戀生活的煙火情欲，在喧囂的日常中咋咋呼呼，跳舞、唱歌、吃飯、喝咖啡、吸著同一品牌的香煙，換上一件又一件旗袍演戲，同時也傳遞情報，有逮捕與被捕。他們一般地愛恨交加，一般地膽小怯懦，看起來很軟弱，骨子里很執著。也許這是諜戰小說的套路，到最后，總是那個最不像革命者的才是革命者。但更大的可能是革命者并沒有什么神圣的光環，而是沉在日常生活里最平凡的你我他。這樣一種還原，反而使我們接近了更大可能的歷史記憶。而海飛將諜戰的空間置放在少年時的上海，則有著更大的復活歷史的野心。《麻雀》里的歷史想象與記憶紛至沓來，在虛構的故事里穿插了許多舊上海的光影記錄。既有極具政治性的極司菲爾路76號、基督教鴻德堂、徐家匯大教堂、淞滬抗戰、上海解放的照片，也有極具日常性的沙遜大廈、大世界、九星大戲院、與榮順館齊名的舊上海一品香菜館、小金鼠香煙的廣告和周璇的照片，更有說不清是政治還是日常的風情上海：外灘、蘇州河、楊樹浦發電廠的廠房與煙囪……甚至編織在虛構人物與故事里的真實歷史：汪精衛與東條英機、丁默邨與李士群的合影，戴笠、傅筱庵的照片等。這些曾經十分典型的上海景觀，如今已經急速消逝，需要細心搜羅、整理并研究才能復現，它們已經被壓扁成一張張照片、畫報與歷史發黃的紙頁。大概不甘心這種消逝，少年海飛記憶的上海被那個看不見硝煙的上海諜戰風云激活，作家海飛則在文字的飛揚中一點點還原那個交錯在歷史、記憶與想象中的舊上海，硬是把旗袍的青春與革命的鮮血織得如此艷麗凄美，而又燃燒著懷舊與激揚的復雜情緒。

于是，這只麻雀便帶著溫情，在舊上海的天空捕風而過。不必去問，它是真實還是想象。它只是一座城與一片記憶。

（本文圖片由王姝、達飛欴提供）

The City and the Memory

By Wang Shu

Hai Feis parents are from Shanghai. They came to Zhuji， a rural county in Zhejiang， during the Cultural Revolution years. The little boy was born in Zhuji but spent holidays in the metropolis， watching behemoth barges rumble past on Suzhou Creek， hanging out along the Bund and exploring the labyrinth of narrow lanes.

The memory of the childhood-year Shanghai came back to haunt him when he began to write about Shanghai in his mid-age. Some like his parents went to rural areas after graduation from middle school during the Cultural Revolution and later became writers. They dont have difficulty setting stories in their home cities. Hai Fei is unlike these writers. He does not grow up in his parents birthplace. A writer may need to grow up in a place to get a full knowledge of a citys geography and emotion and sentiments and its people. Despite the lack of adequate knowledge of Shanghai， Hai Fei manages to trace the past of the city in the Republican years in his spy novels.

Hai Fei started his writers career in a small village in Zhuji. The first novels are all set in eastern Zhejiang. Then he turned to Shanghai， a city of beauty， grandeur， mystery， urban legends， seamy sides， contradictions and contrasts. The city fascinates him with possibilities for fiction. The city doesnt mind a writer writing fictions about itself. These summer and winter vacations in childhood years make the city both familiar and unknown to him. He understands the tangible things in everyday life in the city but he has never been able to call himself a native of Shanghai without a deep knowledge of the things intangible and very much alive underneath.endprint

However， Hai Fei manages to turn this want of deep knowledge to his advantage. It unexpectedly allows him to imagine freely. In his novels， the city pulsates with wild ethos and thrilling adventures. The heroes out of his imagination do not look like revolutionaries. They lead a fast life： dine and wine in ritzy restaurants， hang out in nightclubs and cafes， They drink and smoke. They look weak and cowardly. It is probably a new routine of spy novels： in the end， those who least look like revolutionaries are real spies of passion and devotion and faith.

Though the espionage thrillers are all out of the Hai Feis imagination， the city where his heroes live and spy is as real as possible. He has built a large collection of old-time Shanghai photos from old publications. Many of them are hallmarks of the Shanghai past in different historical eras： churches， factories chimneys， theaters， the Bund， restaurants， landmark buildings， Suzhou Creek. Some photos in the collection keep the historical moments： the Songhu Battle in 1937， the Liberation Day in 1949 and notorious historical figures such as Wang Jingwei and Tojo Hideki， Ding Mochun and Li Shiqun， Dai Li， Fu Xiaoan. Part of his collection is about the gilded lifestyle of the past： how a bottle wine looks like， how a cigarette brand looks like. These photos are visual anchors and ballasts of his spy thrillers. They are the wings of his imagination.

The city and the heroes in Hai Feis spy novels are both real and unreal. They all come from the authors imagination and memory of the city.endprint