古都

《古都》是一部由台湾女作家朱天心出版于一九九六年的小说集，全书由5篇中短篇小说〈威尼斯之死〉、〈拉曼查志士〉、〈第凡内早餐〉、〈匈牙利之水〉、〈古都〉构成，主题含括外省族群的国族认同、身份认同及眷村迁移等议题。

本书书写都市台北，朱天心借用川端康成小说《古都》之名，以二十世纪末期的台湾台北对应日本京都的安静、古老和永恒，凸显都市化后古迹遗址的纷纷消失，历史不断遭到消音和改写的困境作为本书创作的主轴。

小说简介

《古都》收录四篇短篇和一篇中篇，各篇着眼点互异，经由精心安排的多重文本互涉，例如〈威尼斯之死〉之于〈我的朋友阿里萨〉，〈拉曼查志士〉之于〈预知死亡纪事〉，〈匈牙利之水〉之于〈想我眷村的兄弟们〉，从题名到内文混合中外典故，让读者在阅读过程中连结个人记忆及想像。而这些，以一句“难道，你的记忆都不算数？”表达作者朱天心对于这些曾经存在事物不断流逝与改变是不甘的。

评论

清水贤一郎与刘亮雅皆对于《古都》写于1996年此点，认为有其特殊意义。而1996年，是李登辉在首次民选中当选总统的一年，也被认为是族群冲突及统独论战最容易引爆之际。而李鸿琼则是从〈古都〉一篇进一步探讨立场冲突的两个族群，他们共存的可能性。

从《古都》全书解析，清水贤一郎认为，朱天心的文学核心是“记忆”与“自我认同”中的挫折 。并认为在朱天心看似混乱无序的记忆叙述中，其中是有历史背景支撑的。刘亮雅针对〈古都〉一篇，认为朱天心从眷村族群在解严后逐渐失去优势的失落感出发，比起先前的〈想我眷村的兄弟们〉更加积极地试图打破封闭意识，期望可以与其他族群产生对话。而这种创作位置让朱天心的写作在两种不同族群的记忆之间不断辩证，如同一趟不断交错的记忆之旅。

The Old Capital is a 1966 collection of short stories by Taiwanese author Chu Tʻien-hsin (Traditional Chinese: 朱天心). Comprising four short stories and one novella, the book revolves around themes such as mainland Chinese immigrants’ national identity, personal identity, and the relocation of military dependents' villages in Taiwan's capital, Taipei. The title of the book is borrowed from Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata's novel The Old Capital, drawing parallels between late 20th-century Taipei and the quiet, ancient, and timeless aspects of Kyoto, highlighting the disappearance of historical sites and the continuous silencing and rewriting of history in the wake of urbanization. An English version of this collection was translated by literary translator Howard Goldblatt and published in 2007 by Columbia University Press.

Through the different focuses of each story and carefully arranged intertextuality, The Old Capital blends Eastern and Western references from titles to content, and is closely related to three stories from In Remembrance of My Buddies from the Military Compound (想我眷村的兄弟們), another of Chu's story collections. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (第凡內早餐) borrows its title from the story of the same name by Truman Capote; the title Death in Venice (威尼斯之死) is the same as the iconic novel by Thomas Mann and its story content is related to “My Friend Alisa” (我的朋友阿里薩); Man of La Mancha (拉曼查志士) is not unlike a sequel to Chronicle of a Death Foretold (預知死亡紀事); and Hungarian Water (匈牙利之水) is related to In Remembrance of My Buddies from the Military Compound (想我眷村的兄弟們), allowing readers to connect personal memories and imagination while reading. These concepts are expressed by the author Chu with the statement, "Is it possible that none of your memories count?" and signifies her reluctance to accept the constant passing and changing of things that once existed.

While analyzing the book The Old Capital, scholar Kenichiro Shimizu (Chinese/Japanese: 清水賢一郎) states that Chu's literary work centers on the frustration within memory and self-identity. He also comments that Chu's seemingly chaotic and disordered narrative of memory is based on historical context. Scholar Liou Liang-ya (Chinese: 劉亮雅) comments that Chu’s novel starts from a sense of loss felt by the military-dependent village community as they gradually lost their advantages after the lifting of martial law in Taiwan. Compared to her previous work In Remembrance of My Buddies from the Military Compound (想我眷村的兄弟們), Chu actively attempts to break through cognitive closures, hoping to engage in dialogue with other communities and positioning her work in continuous debate between the memories of two different communities.